The Language of Longing
by countess81
Summary: Future Fic* Five years ago, Tess lost her one true love...now she'll do anything to get him back.
1. Default Chapter Title

"The Language of Longing" Part 1 of 4   
by Meredith (roswelldreamer@aol.com)   
This fic is dedicated to all the Dreamgirls out there.   
We still believe.   
3ME + LP3

  


  
  


_"True love's the gift which God has given_   
_to man alone beneath the heaven:_   
_It's not fantasy's hot fire,_   
_Whose wishes granted soon fly;_   
_It liveth not in fierce desire,_   
_With dead desire it doth not die;_   
_It is the secret sympathy,_   
_The silver link, the silken tie_   
_Which heart to heart- and mind to mind-_   
_In body and in soul can bind." – Sir Walter Scott, "Lay of the Last Minstrel"_   


* * *

It was their morning ritual.   
He always woke up first. He found it hard to sleep sometimes with her lying beside him. They had shared a bed for almost a year now and he hadn't yet grown tired of watching her sleep. He didn't think he ever would. He rolled over and looked at her sleeping face. The blinds in their apartment were half-closed, so streams of sunlight were starting to pour in and shine on her creamy caramel skin. He sighed, taking in all of her. Her long, silky auburn hair, her cute little widow's peak, her big brown eyes that were like two sparkling spheres when awake. Her rosy lips, still swollen and puffy from their night of lovemaking. Her soft, round shoulders, leading down to her long, lean arms that were draped so casually over her stomach. Her round breasts perfectly set off her defined abdomen. She was the picture of beauty and grace. His goddess of love. His Venus.   
He slipped out of the tangled sheets, stepping into the black silk boxers crumpled up on the floor. He walked over to the window, opening the blinds to half-mast. This was the only way to shake her out of her dream world.   
"Five more minutes…" She moaned. He looked over from the window and grinned. They had been going to Boston University for four years and he still hadn't tired of opening up his window and seeing all the hustle and bustle outside. It was so different from where they grew up. No cowboys. No tumbleweeds. He walked back over to the warm bed and slipped in between the sheets. He began tickling her.   
"Max!" She cried, squirming around. "Max, stop it! Ok, Ok, I'll get up!" She cried, laughing. She buried her head in his chest and kissed it.   
"That's better." He said, smiling. "I don't want you to be late for your bioethics class again."   
"Remind me never to take 8 AM classes again…" She groaned. "It's so cold…" She said, shivering. After four brutal winters in Boston, she didn't think she could make it through another one. He walked over to her closet, grabbing her robe. She wrapped it around her nude body.   
"You're going to be in trouble when you get out of med school…babies come at all hours of the night- even 8 AM. They don't wait for mommy's doctor," Max said, getting up and walking into the kitchen. He got a tin out of the refrigerator to make coffee for them like he did every morning. She had tried to make coffee a few times, but according to her, it was never as good as his was. She walked into the kitchen and wrapped her arms around his back.   
"Aren't you cold?" She asked, shivering. He turned around and kissed her- their first kiss of the day.   
"Nope." He said, smiling. "I feel warm all over."   
"Mmm," She moaned into his mouth, pulling him closer to her. "You always feel warm." She kissed him again, this time longer and more forcefully. She thrust her tongue into his mouth, massaging his gently.   
"Liz- let's not start."   
"Why not?" She groaned.   
"Cause neither of us will get to class today." Max replied, smiling. "And we both have exams this week so we can't afford that right now." He turned to the cabinet, pulling out two mugs. She grabbed his chin, looking into his eyes.   
"You want to meet for lunch today?" She asked. "We can go down to Harvard Square after your chem class, sit out in front of Au Bon Pain, feed each other croissants and strawberries…" She asked.   
He smiled, putting his arms around her once again. "And then we can come back here for dessert."   
Liz smiled. "Hmm…tempting." Max kissed her forcefully. The feeling of her soft silky skin up against him was making him weak. He was thirty seconds away from skipping his human relations class and taking her back to bed. Between sensual, soul stroking kisses, Max broke away.   
"If we keep this up, neither of us will be graduating in May…" He began.   
"May…" She said, smiling at him. She seemed to be drifting away. "The month before June…"   
"June 22. When will it get here?" Max asked, looking at the beautiful diamond ring on her left ring finger and kissing it.   


* * *

Liz found it hard to concentrate on the middle-aged graying man standing at the front of her auditorium. She was doodling hearts and V-Shaped constellations made of stars in her notebook. A blonde-haired, blue-eyed girl sitting next to her pointed to Liz's drawings and smiled.   
"Girl, get your head out of the clouds." She whispered to Liz, smiling.   
Liz sighed. "I can't help it, Morgan. He just does something to me- like I can't concentrate on anything but him."   
"It's called being in love, Lizzie." Morgan replied, smiling. Liz smiled and stared at the beautiful diamond ring on her left hand. "But bioethics calls. We better pay attention cause I think this is going to be on the exam next week."   
"Yeah, you're right." Liz said, shaking herself out of her daze. She listened intently to the professor.   
"So can anyone explain to me the argument against the practice of euthanasia?" Professor Wallace asked. No one raised his hand and he sighed, shaking his head. "You, young lady." He said, pointing to a girl. "In the third row, with the curly blonde hair. What's your name?"   
The girl smiled. "Tess."   
Liz's blood ran cold. She knew it was her. The same Tess who had taken Max away from her all those years ago. Max had to choose between his destiny with Tess and his soul mate Liz. Her eyes narrowed into a stealthy glare that burned into the back of Tess. What in the hell was she doing at Boston University? Liz's eyes welled up with tears as she listened to that sugary sweet voice that haunted her dreams. It was like her worst nightmare was coming true.   
Megan looked over at Liz while Tess was speaking. She was alarmed by her friend's appearance.   
"Babe, are you ok? You look like you've seen a ghost!" She cried.   
Liz quickly wiped her eyes and shakingly slammed her books closed. She threw her notebook and textbook into her messenger bag and ran out of the room. "Liz!" Morgan cried, running after her. The commotion caused the entire class to turn around, including Tess.   
"Miss Parker? Miss Patrick?" Professor Wallace asked. "Hmm. I hope everything's okay." He said under his breath.   
Tess grinned mischievously.   
"That's right. Run to your precious Max." She thought. "You won't have him for much longer." She sent a telegraphic thought to his brain. An image of the two of them having passionate sex on Max and Liz's bed. 

* * * * * * * 

Max was falling asleep in his human relations class when he felt a charge go through him, then a flash of he and Tess making love on the bed that he and Liz shared. His stomach retched at the thought, but the images of Tess kept coming. The two of them kissing, the two of them as children in the pods. The night they realized Tess was one of them. The hurt in Liz's eyes when she told Max she saw the two of them kissing. All the painful memories of their junior and senior years, as well as all the happy ones he had with Tess.   
He was distracted from his trance by the sound of the door opening. He and several others in the lecture hall instinctively turned around. As his eyes fell on the visitor, his mind raced. He knew something was wrong. Was it Isabel or Michael? Alex or Maria? His parents? Her parents? His mind was racing. He jumped up and ran to her.   
"Mr. Evans…" The professor said. "Please take your discussion outside." Max wasn't even paying attention to his professor; he was too busy focusing on Liz. He followed her outside the hall and looked into her eyes. He could tell she had been crying. Her eyes and face were red and puffy and she was out of breath. When they were safely out in the hallway, he hugged her to him tightly.   
"Tell me." He breathed.   
"Tess." She managed to whisper through choked sobs. "She's…here."   
Max's eyes got wide as all the memories of their junior and senior years at West Roswell High came flooding back to him. Tess had told him that they were destined to be together. She put him under her mind control, and he was convinced she was right. Liz broke up with him because she couldn't stand to know that Tess would always be around, one step behind them. Without Liz's support and love, he crumbled under his desire for Tess and fell under her spell. They were inseparable for over two years. He even gave up his virginity to her- something he had always thought he would reserve for Liz. On graduation night, Liz, who was headed to Boston University, had summoned all her courage to tell Max she still loved him and would never stop loving him. That was all Max needed to end things with Tess for good. Max drove Liz out to the rock formation where the foursome had crashed and had emerged from the pods almost 20 years before. They made love by the fire all night, and swore eternal devotion to each other, saying they'd never be apart again. Max, who had committed to going to Stanford University, withdrew his application and with his unblemished school record and perfect SAT score, managed to get into Boston University to be with her. Michael and Maria had moved to Santa Monica, California, and Isabel and Alex went to the University of New Mexico. They both had decided they would miss each other and their parents too much to go far away.   
The day after graduation, Max ended his two-year relationship with Tess and she was never seen again. Max was upset at first, because he genuinely cared about her. They had come to earth together and he didn't want any harm to come to her. Isabel and Michael were also upset. All three had felt like they'd lost a part of themselves when Tess left, especially Michael…Tess was his sister. Even after four years, he still hadn't forgiven Max for pushing her away. Michael's feeling of betrayal stung deeply and he still only talked to Max a few times a year.   
"Where…is she?" He asked. He was relieved to know that there were reasons for his sudden visions of Tess- she was nearby.   
"In my bioethics class. Morgan and I were talking and… the professor called on…her… to answer a question." Liz said, her eyes cold.   
"You didn't know she was in your class until today?" Max asked, astounded.   
"She wasn't in there last week! She must have just enrolled here! Oh, God, Max…" She cried, burying her face in his chest. She kept telling herself that if she didn't let go of him, maybe she could keep him away from Tess. "What are we going to do?" She finally asked him as he rocked her back and forth.   
"I don't know, baby. I don't know." He said, breathing into her hair and kissing the top of her head. He was filled with fear and a twisted sense of longing. He couldn't control his attraction to Tess. Here he was, holding the love of his life close to his chest, and he couldn't stop thinking about his high school girlfriend. His relationship with Tess was primal…chemical. He and Liz had something so much better than that ever was. Their relationship was romantic, personal- sensual, real. There was a vast difference between the two women and even after all these years and his true love for Liz, he still felt an attraction to Tess. He felt like it wasn't up to him. Someone or something had set the wheels in motion…   
And he knew his universe was about to come crashing down on him.   
"It won't be long now." Tess said quietly to herself as she poked her head around the corner. Down an abandoned quiet hallway, she saw Max holding and cradling a crying Liz in his arms. "Just wait until he meets you," She said, opening up her locket and looking at a small picture of a young boy. She kissed it and smiled. She pressed it close to her chest and quickly darted back around the corner and out the door so they would not notice her. 

* * * * * 

Liz was so startled about seeing Tess in her morning class that she went to classes with Max the rest of the day. She felt the need to be with him all the time, almost like protecting him. After Max's organic chemistry lab, They jumped on the subway to their apartment near Harvard. As they sat together for the 20-minute train ride, neither said a word. Max just held Liz's hand, caressing and kissing it. She looked out of the window with cold, dead eyes. She couldn't bring herself to show Max how scared she really was. As they approached their stop, they both picked up their book bags and filed off the train. Max instinctively grabbed Liz's hand as they crossed the busy intersection and came within sight of their apartment building. He fumbled in his pocket for his keys and they climbed up the flight of stairs to their small apartment. It was warm and cozy with a nice view of Harvard Square. It was expensive, and they both had to work full time to pay for it, but they didn't mind, because they were together. Liz worked at the Urban Outfitters store down the street and Max did work for a doctor's office in Cambridge.   
"When do you have to work tonight?" Max asked, breaking the ice as Liz flung her tired body, face first, onto their bed. She kicked off her shoes and sighed.   
"6 to close." She said, grimacing. "You're working tomorrow right?" She asked.   
"Yeah." He said, grabbing her a Diet Coke out of the fridge. He knew she'd ask for one so he saved himself a trip and brought it into the bedroom. Liz stripped out of her jacket and socks and jumped under the goose-down comforter. She turned on the TV and flipped to her favorite soap opera, General Hospital. Max walked over to the bedside and kicked off his shoes. He put his bottle of water down on his nightstand and handed Liz her soda.   
"Oh, you are too good to me." She said, giving him a quick smooch. He smiled, peeling off his sweater and revealing only a tight white t-shirt underneath. He cuddled up with her and buried his face into her neck, breathing in her peach shampoo and sweet perfume. She smiled contently. This was her Max. He wasn't acting any differently than normal. Every afternoon, they'd come back from class, he'd drink a bottle of water and she'd have a Diet Coke. They'd cuddle up in bed together. She'd watch her soap and he'd fall asleep. Sometimes he'd mumble things in his sleep, usually "Oh, that's nice," or "Oh, what a bitch," responding to whatever Liz would scream at someone on the television. She looked at him and sighed. Oh, God, how she loved this man. If anyone or anything ever came between them, she didn't want to live. She turned herself around in his arms so their chests were touching. She kissed each of his eyelids and left a trail of hot kisses from his cheeks down to his neck. He instinctively pulled her closer to him; his eyes still closed. Liz figured that he was nearing his dream state. He began moving his hands up and down her back, pulling up the back of her sweater so he could feel her soft skin. She threw her head back instinctively as she felt his hands move further down her back.   
"Max…" She said quietly to him. "Wake up, baby."   
"Hmm…" He groaned, pulling her close to him and kissing her forcefully. Liz could feel his desire and need and returned it back to him. They both sat up, still kissing and in each other's arms. Liz wrapped her legs around Max's back, who had his legs stretched out on the bed. She began moving forcefully into him, her mind and body on auto pilot. "Whoa, girl, slow down." He said, laughing. She looked at him with desire in her eyes. She helped him pull his shirt over his head, revealing his exquisite chest. She rubbed her hands over his shoulders and pulled herself close to him, aching to have all of him. He pulled her sweater over her head, revealing her perfect breasts to him. He sighed, rubbing them softly and slowly placing his mouth on her. She pulled him down on top of her as he continued to worship her with his mouth. She felt herself changing inside, like she needed him to survive. She felt herself becoming a contradiction- she loved this closeness she and Max shared, but she was terrified that he was becoming the key to her survival.   


* * *

Liz and Morgan had the closing shift at Urban Outfitters that night, and they were in the back room unloading new merchandise. They were jotting letters and numbers on a clipboard as they sorted through the clothes, picture frames, candles, journals, and other random stuff.   
Liz picked up a new candleholder and smiled. "This is the exact candleholder that Maria had in her room when we were in high school!"   
"Wow," Morgan said, looking at it. "Retro-kitsch. Making a comeback, I like it." She smiled.   
"Retro?" Liz asked, grinning. "Ok, come on, Morgan, we're not that old!"   
"Have you talked to Maria lately?" Morgan asked.   
Liz paused, a sudden pain stinging her. Talking about Maria made her think about high school and all the horrible things that happened there. "No," She managed to spit out finally. "I guess I should call her or something."   
"She was your best friend for like 18 years, I think that would be a good idea!"   
"It's just so hard to talk to her about things, cause Michael and Max are on such bad terms right now. Last I heard, Michael wasn't even coming to our wedding." Liz said, a tear coming to her eye.   
"And since when do you let guys get in between you and your best friend?" Morgan asked. She walked over to the phone that was on the store room wall and picked it up. "Call her."   
Liz smiled at Morgan's forcefulness. It was refreshing. Liz had a hard time standing up for herself, let alone motivating herself to do something as sad and awkward as calling up Maria out of the blue. She admired Morgan's strong attitude. The two of them had met their freshman year when they were randomly assigned to be roommates. They got along so well that they decided to live together their sophomore year too. Morgan's boyfriend of two years, Owen, had also gotten to be a good friend of Liz and Max's. They double dated a lot and went to parties together. Morgan and Owen had no idea that they were in the presence of an otherworldly creature every time they were in the same room with Max.   
"I can't." Liz said. "What am I supposed to say to her?"   
"How about…'Hello'?" Morgan asked, swinging the receiver.   
Liz paused. "I will talk to her. But not here…we've got too much work to do."   
Morgan sighed. "Ok, Lizzie. You're off the hook for now. But If I find out you didn't call her, you're in big trouble, pally."   
Liz smiled.   
* * * * * *   
Max was sitting on the couch in his apartment, listening to his Dave Matthews Band CD and working on an anatomy lab. Anatomy was his favorite subject because it caused him to want to learn more about his own body. He ran his fingers over his bare, well-defined stomach, fingering the muscle formations that were indented in the skin. Were the diagrams of the human abdomen the same as his insides? As far as they knew, their cells were the only things that were different than humans. Was the composition of his organs different than Liz's? If they were, would they ever be able to make a baby together? One that would have a normal life? These were all questions that had no easy answers. His mind raced as the phone rang. His eyes traveled back into the text book as he absentmindedly reached over and picked up the receiver.   
"Hello?" Max answered.   
There was a paused. Max rolled his eyes and groaned.   
"HELLO?" He said forcefully.   
"Hello, Max."   
His heart stopped. His blood ran cold. He knew that voice.   
It was Tess.   
"What in the—" He began.   
"Yes, my love. It's me." She replied in that sultry voice as sugary as ever. Max paused. His voice got angrier as his blood began to pump fervently.   
"What do you want?" He screamed into the receiver.   
"Oh, you don't know, Max? You feel it when you sleep at night. You feel it when you wake up in the morning. You feel it when you look in the mirror—and see my face." Tess said sweetly, her finger wrapping around the phone cord.   
"You're delusional, Tess."   
Tess chuckled. "I'm not delusional, Maxy. I've come to claim what's rightfully mine…"   
"…and that would be…?" Max asked.   
"You, of course." Tess said.   
"I don't belong to you! I'm with Liz! We're in love. We're getting…married! She's the ONLY one for me! Do you hear that Tess? The ONLY one!" Max cried, his voice hot with rage.   
Tess laughed again. "That's fine, Max. Keep on playing house with your puppy love. You know I'm the only one who drives you, Max, I'm a part of you. You're a part of me. You can't deny that. When you make love to her, you're thinking of me."   
"No! That's not true!" Max screamed. He punched his fist into the couch in anger. "You are crazy!"   
"Oh, Max. You're the crazy one. Keep on fooling yourself with Liz. You'll see soon enough- that you belong to me. We'll see you on June 22nd. Or maybe sooner…" Tess said ominously, hanging up the phone.   
"Tess—" He said, his voice choked with rage and tears, muffled completely by the sound of dead air on the line, and then a dial tone. He screamed with frustration, slamming the phone into its cradle with such force that it was knocked over on the floor. The caller I.D. box fell beside it. Max picked it up and looked with horror at what it displayed.   
"HARDING-EVANS, TESS (617) 290-0666."   
She'd changed her last name to Evans! Max's stomach got weak as he had another flash about making love to Tess. He reeled. "Why is this all happening to us? Why now? Everything's perfect!"   
He heard Tess's voice echoing through his brain. _"You'll see soon enough- you belong to me."_   
He tried to fight it. Tess was nothing to him. Liz was his world, his heart, his soul, he didn't want anyone but her.   
_ "We'll see you June 22nd."_   
How did she know he and Liz's wedding date? And the last part really shocked him.   
"Who's we?" He screamed out loud.   
Max felt stained, dirty. He needed to see Liz. To hold her, touch her, kiss her. Breathe her in. He needed her. Like a drug.   


* * * * * *   
_Santa Monica, California_   
_One Week Later_   
_March 31, 2005._

Michael Guerin looked out of the window of the apartment he shared with his girlfriend of five years, Maria DeLuca. It was extremely small, only a bedroom, a kitchenette, and a small living area, but it was cozy, and it was theirs, so they loved it. He watched the rain as it fell down outside in the darkness. He watched as it fogged up the windows, making it increasingly difficult to see outside.   
Maria was still asleep. It was early, he didn't want to wake her. She hadn't been sleeping much lately. Her best friend from childhood, Liz Parker, had called her a couple of weeks before and they got in yet another argument. It was tearing Maria apart but she couldn't allow herself to show weakness.   
Michael looked over at her then, watching her chest rise and fall in the moonlight. She always slept in the nude and he loved this time of night, her lying still and restful on her back; the moonlight dancing on her silky skin. He would often sit up at night, thinking, watching her. He wasn't much of a spiritual person, but he thanked whoever or whatever that created him for bringing him together with this beautiful creature. Part of him hated Liz for taking Max away from him all those years ago, but he loved her for delivering this perfect sleeping angel to him, so completely and effortlessly.   
Her arm moved in her sleep just then, draping it across her stomach. "Michael…" She whispered in her sleep. He smiled. It made him feel like such a bad ass whenever she called out his name. At that moment, she was his, and nothing else mattered. The past, the future- nothing. He only saw her.   
Until tonight.   
_"Michael,"_ The voice whispered in his head, echoing through his brain and shaking him to the core. _"Michael, I've missed you so much."_   
It continued to haunt him. That voice he hadn't heard in so long- the voice of his sister, Tess. _"Michael, I need your help. Michael, you need to see him. I named him after you."_   
Michael tried to shake that last thought out of his brain. He could feel Tess reaching out to him. He got a flash just then, of Tess, Max, and a young boy. They were playing in a park, the boy was pushing a toy truck through a sandbox. Tess and Max were looking at each other with loving eyes. The boy looked exactly like his best friend, his surrogate brother, their leader, with the brown hair, doe eyes, long eyelashes, and prominent ears.   
Tess and Max had a child?   
It couldn't be. Maria had just talked to Liz, and she and Max were as happy as ever. They were even getting married in less than three months. Why, after all these years, is he finally getting visions of Tess? Why can he feel her presence with him?   
_"Michael, come to Boston. Please, Michael, I need your help. She has to be stopped."_ Tess seemed to be pleading to him.   
"Boston?" He thought to himself. He felt a wave of terror wash over him- like he knew that something awful was going to happen. "They're in danger." He said, looking over at the snapshot of Max and Liz from years ago that still hung on Maria's mirror. He ran over to Maria and shook her out of her dreams.   
"What?" She cried, her eyes sealed tight with tiredness.   
He paused, looking at her. He seemed to be drowning in her for a moment.   
"Michael, WHAT?" She cried. "What's wrong?"   
"Get up, we're going to Boston."   
"Boston? What?" She sat up in bed like a rocket. "Are Liz and Max okay? Oh God!" She screamed. "Tell me! What's happened to them?"   
"Nothing- yet. But I think my sister might be after Liz."   
"Tess? What the hell…you don't hear from her for almost five years and now all of the sudden you're getting visions about her? God, she's such a bitch!" Maria cried.   
"Hey, calm down, she's the only family I have, all right?"   
"What about Max, Isabel? You have me!"   
Michael shook his head. "It's not the same, blondie."   
"Fine, Michael, I'll bite. How do you know that psycho hose-beast is going after Liz, huh?" Maria asked.   
"I just know ok? Don't ask so many questions!" Michael cried, grabbing two suitcases out of the closet and throwing them on the bed. He scared her when he got like this. Something must really be wrong. Maria stood up, her body twinkling in the moonlight. She shuddered as she thought of Liz and Tess coming face to face again. She knew Liz might do something crazy. And if Liz didn't stand up against Tess, Maria sure as hell would do anything to protect her Lizzie! Michael looked over and saw her then, his glorious distraction. He could feel that she was in pain. He walked over behind her, wrapping his arms around her back. He placed his lips lightly on her neck.   
"Don't worry, ok?" He said quietly. "Liz is going to be okay. So is Max. I won't let Tess hurt them." Michael could feel Maria's worry.   
"I just wish this would be over with… I mean, Max and Liz have been through so much. They're good people, why can't they just be happy? Why does this always have to happen to them? When will they be happy? When will we be happy?"   
"I thought we were happy." Michael said, looking into her eyes with hurt. He looked like a wounded puppy dog- she looked at him and frowned.   
_ "Nice one, DeLuca."_ She thought to herself.   
"Michael Guerin, I've never been so happy in my whole life than I am right now with you. I'm just scared. As long as your sister and Nasedo and God knows who else are out there lurking around, I just can't feel safe."   
"Maria, You don't have to feel scared. I won't ever let anyone hurt you." He replied, lacing his fingers with hers.   
"I'm not worried about me. But I would die if…they took you from me." Maria said, her eyes welling up with tears. He moved his hands through her soft blonde hair.   
"I love you." Michael said, kissing her soundly.   
"I love you too." Maria replied. "Come on, let's go find Sissy Dearest." 

* * * * * * * 

_Boston, Massachusetts._   
_Later That Afternoon._

Max never told Liz that Tess had called him that night. Liz felt him changing, acting strangely. Everytime the phone rang, Max would jump ten feet, like he was expecting something. She didn't want to say anything to him because they'd both been going through a lot of stress with school, work, and wedding preparations. They had barely had time to stop and breathe, let alone just relax together in those precious moments of the day that made her want to wake up and live the next one.   
Liz hadn't seen Tess since that day in her bioethics class. Tess never showed up to class again. It had been almost three weeks since she had appeared out of nowhere and she seemed to have disappeared just as effortlessly as she'd disrupted their rosy existence. General Hospital was on, but as usual, Max wasn't paying much attention. He was focused on Liz, who was watching the screen intently. They were lying in bed under the covers, his bare chest pressed firmly up against her soft back, that skin to skin contact that drove him insane. He buried his face in her neck, breathing in her intoxicating scent, and closed his eyes. He tried to forget that every vision of Tess was pushing him closer into his own private hell.   
_ "Max, it won't be long now. We've been waiting for this day so patiently." _He heard Tess's voice echo through his brain, awakening hatred he never thought existed. His eyes flew open. This has to stop! He thought to himself. But her voice and images kept flooding his brain.   
_"You won't be able to deny it anymore. We belong together. You and I. Not Liz."_   
No! Max kept repeating in his brain, holding Liz closer to him. She wrapped her left arm around him, stroking his skin and soothing him. He seemed to be upset. She turned herself around in his arms. He opened up his soulful brown eyes, his beautiful eyelashes fluttering with each staggered breath, and looked deep into his lover's own.   
"Max, what's wrong?" She asked him. "You seem upset."   
Without answering, he pulled her close to him then, kissing her with need and urgency. He continued to attack her with a million kisses all over her body. He didn't leave any part of her neglected. She moaned his name as the kisses became stronger, kisses full of desire, longing, fear… His lips continued to travel lower until they reached their desired destination. She grabbed his hair then, pushing him closer into her. She threw her head back as a million sensations washed over her. She felt his name cross her lips over and over again, without thought, sensation, meaning…   
_She closed her eyes and had a vision of Max playing with a young boy in a sandbox. He pushed a toy truck through the sand and laughed as Max helped him build a small sandcastle. He looked so much like Max that she shuddered. Liz felt like she was seeing her future, their future- _**their son.**_ Liz gasped with horror when Tess showed up then, picking up the young boy and kissing him. Max then took the two of them in his arms and they embraced._   
"Oh my God!" She screamed, tears streaming down her face.   
"Liz, Liz, I know baby…" He said, his face buried in her stomach, his eyes sealed with passion. He kissed her fiercely around her navel, working his way back up to her neck. She sat up like a rocket.   
"No, Max, I saw her! I saw her in my vision!" Liz screamed, her eyes filling up with tears.   
"You saw Tess?" Max asked with alarm. "What was she doing?"   
Liz looked in his eyes. The pain she felt was too great to tell him about. "She was playing with a little boy- you were there too. He looked exactly like you, Max."   
Max was stunned- a child? He had had lots of visions of Tess over the past few weeks, but none involving a child. Was Tess somehow getting messages to Liz's brain too? He shuddered at the thought. "Liz…" He said, moaning her name. He tried to push Tess out of his brain as he took Liz's face in her hands, kissing her with passion and intensity. They broke away and looked into each other's eyes.   
"Max…" She whispered. "I want to have your baby." She placed her hand on his chest, letting it travel further down to the center of him that had always fascinated her. "Make love to me."   
"Oh, God, Liz…" He said, the words filled with desire. He kissed her and lowered her down onto the bed. "You're my world, Liz, there's no one else…" He made love to her with such force and intensity that the feeling frightened Liz. Making love with him had never been this way before. She felt him pushing into her with such need that it almost hurt her.   
"Max," She moaned. He laced their fingers together, pressing her hands into the bed. He continued this quest for something- anything- salvation- to return to that feeling of safeness- complete and utter bliss he had while making love to Liz.   
He looked into Liz's eyes to try to gage her response at what was happening to them. And to his horror, Tess's face gazed back at him.   
_ "I told you, Max. You belong to me."_   
Max screamed, pulling himself away from the image that shocked him so much. When he came back to reality, he saw Liz staring back at him with horror.   
"Max…" She whispered. "What is happening to us?"   
"I don't know." He said, shaking his head. "God, I'm so sorry, Liz, I'm so sorry." He burst into tears then. Liz was shocked to see him cry. She'd only seen him cry twice in her life- when he and Michael got in a huge fight years ago and Michael told him that they were no longer brothers, and after she accepted his marriage proposal.   
"Max…" She continued to whisper. Her lover was crumbling right in front of her eyes. She stretched out her arms to him and he crawled into her warm embrace. They buried themselves under the covers as he rested his head on her chest, needing to hear her beating heart. Needing to feel that closeness.   
"I'm sorry," He kept repeating. She just shushed him and kissed the top of his head.   
"You don't have anything to be sorry about. You're mine." Liz said.   
_"You're mine." _Tess repeated in Max's brain. He squinted his eyes in pain.   
"I love you." Max said, lifting his head up to meet Liz's. "I'll never stop loving you."   
"I love you too, angel." She said, kissing him. "I'll always love you."   
The phone rang then, and Max's eyes lit up with terror. It was her, he knew it. What were they going to do? Liz looked over at the caller I.D. box.   
"UNKNOWN CALLER."   
She looked at Max for a second, both having the same thought. Would it be Tess? "I'll let the machine get it." She said, smoothing his hair.   
The ringing stopped and she heard the sound of her own voice. _"Hi! You've reached Max and Liz's! We're not in right now, but leave a message and we'll get back to you!"_   
"Liz! Max! If you're there, pick up the phone, it's Michael." Max and Liz were both shocked. Max grabbed the phone quickly.   
"Michael, Michael, we're here." Max said. "Is everything ok?"   
"Yeah, but can you do me a favor?"   
"Anything." Max said.   
"Come pick Maria and me up from the airport? We're in Boston." Michael said.   
Max's jaw dropped. "You're here?" He looked at Liz. "He and Maria are in Boston."   
"What are they doing here?" Liz asked.   
"Tell Liz we're here to save her ass." Michael said. Max's eyes lit up with fear. Maria smacked Michael's arm for making such a rude comment.   
"She's in danger?" Max asked, squeezing Liz's hand. "From what? Who?"   
"Listen, if you could just pick us up, we're in terminal B. Gate 8. We'll explain everything when we get back to your place. It's not safe to talk about it here." Michael said.   
"Michael, tell me what's going on!" Max demanded.   
"I will, Maxwell, just chill, all right?" Michael cried. Maria rolled her eyes.   
"Give me the phone, genius. You obviously failed diplomatic relations last semester." Maria grabbed the phone from Michael's ear. "Hi, Max. It's Maria. If you could please just come pick us up, we'd greatly appreciate it. I'm sorry my boyfriend can be such an asshole sometimes."   
Max nodded. "We're on our way. Give us twenty minutes." They hung up. Max looked at Liz. He cupped his hand in her face. She turned her face to kiss his open palm.   
"I'm in danger?" She asked, looking into his eyes. They were both on the verge of tears.   
"I'm not going to let anything happen to you. But we need to find out what's going on. Come on, get dressed. We're going to get Michael and Maria." Max said. 

* * * * * 

Michael was sitting impatiently at the gate, waiting for Max and Liz to come get them from the airport. Maria had gone to a nearby stand to grab the latest issue of Cosmo, so she was out of his hair for a few minutes. This gave him time to catch some much-needed rest. That plane ride had been brutally long. He looked at his watch, hardly believing it was almost 6 PM. It felt like lunchtime to him. This time change was making him ill. He shut his eyes and laid his head back on the cushy blue chair.   
The visions came again. This time, it was a vision of a wedding. Michael could only see the back of the bride and groom, but as he got closer, he determined that the groom definitely was Max. He couldn't make out the bride's face. As he got closer and closer, he saw who it was.   
_ "Michael, You're so close. You've almost found me."_ He heard Tess's voice haunting his brain. He slowly opened his eyes and looked up at the ceiling of the airport.   
"Ok, Tess, enough is enough…what are you trying to tell me?" Michael said to himself quietly.   
The two rows of chairs behind Michael were empty, all except for a young woman and a little boy. The little boy sat close to the edge of the chair, kicking his legs over the side and coloring in a coloring book. He frowned as he broke the crayon he was using. He looked up at the woman, his big brown eyes watering with tears.   
"Mommy, I broke my crayon. Can you fix it?" He asked her sweetly.   
"Of course, Adam-Michael." She held the broken green crayon in her enclosed fist, and when she opened it back up again, it was whole. "There, darling. Mommy fixed it." She said, handing him the crayon and kissing his head.   
"Thanks, Mommy." He said, smiling. He went back to his coloring contently. His mother pushed her sunglasses down her nose and turned around in her chair so she was facing Michael.   
"Honey, put your book away. It's time for you to meet your Uncle Michael." She said, grabbing her child's tiny hand.   
"Mommy, I don't want to." Adam-Michael pleaded.   
"Honey," She said, squatting down to his eye level. She sent him a telegraphic message that he was able to understand since he was completely alien. His eyes got wide as he saw a vision of himself riding his very own horse. His mom had promised him that she'd buy him a new pony of his very own if he'd cooperate with her.   
"Ok, Mommy." He said, smiling. He reached out his hand to her. She smiled, reaching down to the chair and grabbing her purse. She slowly led her son to the two rows of chairs where Michael was sitting, her heart pounding faster and faster. If she was this nervous meeting her brother again, how was she going to be when she met Max?   
Michael turned around instinctively, smirking. He knew she was there. "So, if it isn't my baby sister."   
"Michael." She replied, smiling. "It's so good to see you." She was disappointed that he didn't stand up to hug her, but then again, Michael wasn't really that into public displays of affection.   
"Tess, I'm only going to say one thing to you…why did you leave?"   
"I couldn't stay, Michael. Not if Max wouldn't accept me as his chosen one." Tess replied. Michael wasn't paying much attention to what she was saying. He was too busy looking at the small child clutching Tess's hand nervously.   
He looked exactly like Max.   
"Oh my God…" Michael whispered. Maria came up to the two of them then, dropping her soda she had just bought.   
"Holy shit!" Maria screamed. She had to keep herself from fainting. She felt like her knees might give out. She saw Tess talking to Michael, and Tess clutching the hand of a small boy who looked exactly like her best friend's fiance. "Tess what the HELL are you doing here?"   
Tess glared at her. "I'd ask you the same thing, but you probably would never shut your mouth."   
Maria stared daggers at her. "You're never going to get him back, you know. I don't know why you're bothering to try."   
Tess laughed. "Oh, but I will now. I will get Max back, he belongs to me. And Adam-Michael is the proof."   
Maria grabbed Michael's arm for support. Their jaws dropped in disbelief.   
Tess continued, scooping up the boy in her arms. "Michael, Maria, I'd like you to meet Adam-Michael Evans, Max's son. The first procreation of our species."   
Maria's eyes rolled back in her head as she started to faint. Michael caught her and his jaw dropped. "Tess…what the hell…"   
At that moment, hell came colliding into Boston-Logan International Airport.   
Max and Liz ran over to Michael and Maria hand-in-hand.   
"Hello Max. Hello Liz." Tess said, smirking.   
Liz's eyes welled up with tears. Max couldn't do anything but stare in awe at the child she was holding. No one had to tell him anything- at that moment he knew…   
He was a father.

  
  



	2. Default Chapter Title

The Language of Longing, Part 2 of 4   
by Meredith (roswelldreamer@aol.com)   
For the Dreamgirls, I love you guys.   
We still believe.

  


  
  
  


"Tess…" Max said, still in awe from looking at the child staring at him. They had the same eyes.   
"Yes, Max, it's really me." Tess said, smiling. "Aren't you going to hug me or something?"   
Max was silent. "Tess, why didn't you tell me? I had a right to know… that I have…"   
"A son? Go on, you can say it Max." Tess said, smiling. She looked over at Liz, who looked like she'd seen a ghost. She was shaking her head over and over, like if she didn't believe what was standing right in front of her, it would all just go away. "Oh, but we wouldn't want to hurt your little girlfriend over here." She added with a grin.   
"Tess, I swear to God! You're dead, you hear me?" Maria screamed, lunging for her. Michael held her back.   
"Maria! Stop it!" Michael said. "This is something Max and Tess have to work out on their own. And stop screaming at her, you're scaring the kid."   
The four of them looked at Adam-Michael, who had buried his face in Tess's pant leg with confusion and fear.   
"Mommy?" He said quietly. She bent down to his eye level once again.   
"What is it, sweetheart?" Tess asked sweetly, her hand smoothing her son's chocolate brown hair.   
"Who is that man?" Adam-Michael asked, pointing to Max. Max's eyes filled with tears, as did Liz's. She wrapped her whole body around her fiancé's arm, clutching on to him like a scared child.   
"He's your daddy, sweetie." Tess replied, beaming.   
"If he's my daddy, how come I've never seen him before?" Adam-Michael asked.   
"He's been away, sweetie. But now we're all together again. Your mommy, your daddy, and you. We're a family again." Tess said, smiling and looking up at Max, who was still in shock. Liz burst into tears, running away from the entire scene. She couldn't breathe.   
"Liz!" Max cried, running after her. Liz shook her head and sped up her pace. She had to get out of there.   
"Some family you've got there, Tess." Maria said, coolly. "Mommy's psycho, and Daddy's in love with someone else. I feel sorry for the poor kid."   
Tess glared daggers into her. She raised her hand towards Maria, and with out a care, used her powers to throw her into a nearby wall.   
"TESS! What the fuck are you thinking?" Michael screamed at her, grabbing her arm and twisting it. He then ran over to the wall, where Maria was slumped over, rubbing the back of her head. "If you EVER touch Maria again, I will kill you myself. Plus, what in the hell were you thinking doing that in a public place? Anyone could have seen you! You idiot!"   
"I don't care who knows it. Michael, I'm your sister. How can you put your little tramp before family?"   
"Watch me." Michael said firmly, grabbing a squirming Maria and flinging her over his shoulder.   
"Michael, PUT ME DOWN! I'm going to kill that bitch! PUT ME DOWN RIGHT NOW!" Her screams echoed through the terminal. A crowd was growing around them now.   
"We're going to find Max and Liz." Michael said. He turned around to give Tess a last warning. "Look, Tess, I don't know why you're here now, but rest assured, I will find out. And we will stop you. We're not going to let you hurt any of us, ever again."   
"Mommy, where's Uncle Michael going?" Adam-Michael asked Tess, tugging on her pant leg.   
"I'm sorry, Adam, but I've got to leave pal. We'll play some other time ok?" Michael said, trying to smile at his tiny, clueless nephew.   
"Ok." Adam said, a frown washing over his face. Michael was shocked. He couldn't believe how much he looked like Max.   
"Michael—" Tess cried.   
"What!" Michael screamed, getting impatient.   
"You'll change your mind. I'll make you."   
"No you won't, Tess. No you won't." He said firmly, walking away with Maria still screaming over his shoulder.   
**"MICHAEL SHE IS SO DEAD! TESS, DO YOU HEAR ME? YOU ARE ONE DEAD BITCH, YOU ALIEN FREAK! MARK MY WORDS!"** Maria said. Tess laughed loud enough for Maria to hear. She waved at Maria and smiled.   
"Bye, Bye, Maria!" She said, laughing.   
* * * * * *   
When Max finally caught up with Liz, she was crouched behind a chair next to a flight gate that wasn't being used that day. Max ran up to her, out of breath.   
"Liz--"   
"Max, go away. I need to think."   
"Liz, don't shut me out. I am just as surprised about this as you."   
Liz looked up into Max's eyes. They were both crying now. "Max, don't you realize what this means? You have a son! A son that isn't mine! Do you have any idea how that makes me feel?"   
"Devastated?" Max asked. "Used? Out of control?" He continued, crouching down next to her and pushing a loose strand of her brown hair behind her ear. "I never wanted kids unless they came from you…came from us. I'm not ready to be a father yet, certainly not of this child that came from Tess."   
Liz looked at his eyes and frowned. "I guess she was right. We don't belong together."   
"What?" Max asked frantically.   
"You and Tess should be together. To raise your son." Liz said, not being able to control the words coming out of her mouth.   
"Liz, I can't believe what you're saying. You know that's not true." Max said, his eyes welling with tears.   
"Well, what am I supposed to believe, Max?" Liz asked, her tears growing stronger and more forceful now. "I know he was conceived when we were apart, but…it seems like everything Tess ever said, about how you guys belonged together- were true. And he's the proof."   
Max shook his head. "I can't believe what I'm hearing. I can't believe that after all we've been through you still have doubts about us- about the depth of my love for you."   
Liz looked up at him then, seeing the pain in his eyes. She didn't want to hurt him but she just go through losing him to Tess- not again.   
"I can't lose you to Tess. Not again. That will kill me."   
"You're not going to… not ever."   
"Max, whether you like it or not, you and Tess are tied forever- through…your…son." It pained her to say the words. "I don't think I can handle that, her being part of the rest of our lives."   
"She won't be- she isn't part of me. You are." Max said, cupping his hand on Liz's cheek, trying his best to comfort her.   
But to no avail.   
Liz looked away from him then.   
"I think I should stay at Morgan's for a while." Liz said.   
Max couldn't believe what he was hearing. The words came out of Liz's mouth slowly, carefully, like she was going in slow motion. "Liz, oh God, no. Please don't say this."   
"Max, I need this. We need this space right now."   
"No, Liz, I can't be away from you- not even one night." Max said, shaking his head.   
"Max, you know this is the right think to do. Until you work things out with Tess, and your son… we should be apart."   
"I don't want that family, I don't want that life- I only want you!" Max screamed, tears flowing out of his eyes.   
"Max, listen to yourself! He's your son for God's sake!" Liz said, pleading with him. "Tess may be the devil incarnate, but he's still your son."   
Max couldn't take it anymore. He put his head on Liz's shoulder and sobbed uncontrollably. "Liz, I can't believe this is happening…why is this happening to us?"   
To see Max so uncontrollable, so raw and open like this made Liz's heart break for the second time that day. "I don't know Max. Let's just take some time…and see where we are." After a few breathless moments, Max raised his head up to meet her face. He kissed her with such a need and urgency that it scared them both. After what seemed like an eternity, they broke away, looking into each other's sad brown eyes. Liz could feel her heart breaking slowly, painfully in her chest and she knew Max was close to emotional death.   
"Oh, God, Max…" She said, returning to his lips again. Somewhere in the back of her brain, she believed that if she just kept kissing him, that somehow, they'd both wake up and this horrible nightmare- Tess, that little boy- they'd both be gone. And she and Max would have their perfect life back.   
"Liz…" He moaned into her mouth. "Please don't do this to me…I can't just sit here…" He continued kissing her, hungrily lapping up her kisses like he was never going to kiss her again. "And let you walk away from me."   
"Max…" She said, her eyes closing in ecstasy as Max's lips traveled down her neck. "…we both know it's the right thing…" She said, breathless. She couldn't take it anymore. She ripped her neck away from his lips. He groaned. "It's only for a little while."   
Max looked into her eyes with disbelief. She really was leaving him. He never thought this day would come.   
Just then, Michael walked up, Maria still slung over his shoulder. Max and Liz could faintly hear Maria's screeching voice getting louder and louder as they approached. "…SPACEBOY! PUT ME DOWN! We're away from her now! I promise I'm not going to go after her just PUT ME DOWN!" She screamed, banging her fists on his back. Michael wasn't paying attention. He had his full attention focused on the train wreck sitting in the floor in front of him that used to be his best friend and his best friend's fiancé.   
"Hush, Blondie." Michael said, putting her down on the floor.   
"Finally!" She screamed. She looked over immediately to where Max and Liz were screaming and gasped. "Oh my God! Lizzie!" She ran into her best friend's arms. Liz was still in shock, but the tears flowed freely from her eyes. Michael walked over to them as well, looking at Max.   
"Max…what's going on?" He asked gravelly.   
"Liz and I decided, to separate, for a while." Max said quietly, choking back tears. He turned away from them and solemnly walked over to the window near by. Maria heard this and buried her face in Liz's soft brown hair.   
"I am so sorry, Liz." Maria said, petting Liz's hair softly. Maria looked up at Michael, signaling to him to go talk to Max. Michael tried to protest, but Maria widened her eyes and gritted her teeth. "GO." She mouthed silently to him. He got the picture. She looked down at Liz, who broke away from their hug.   
"Maria, I'm so glad you are here." She said, her bottom lip quivering. "What am I going to do?"   
"You and Max are going to get married. Tess is nothing but a washed up ho-bag, ok? She means NOTHING to Max and he's told you that until he's been blue in the face. When are you going to stop being so stubborn and just believe him?"   
"Maria, it's not that simple anymore. Not now, not with this boy."   
"Adam-Michael."   
"What?" Liz said, stunned, realizing at that moment how real this child really was.   
"Adam-Michael. That's his name." Maria repeated. Liz shuddered.   
_That's what she'd had wanted to name a son if she and Max ever had one._   
"I can't believe this is happening…" Liz said.   
"Look, Liz, I know you're upset, but don't you think Max is just as stunned about all this as you are? I mean I hate to take his side on this one, but maybe you should be a little more understanding…"   
Liz looked into Maria's eyes with a death stare. "Maria, how would you like it if Isabel showed up at your doorstep out of nowhere one day holding Michael's four-year-old son and ranting about how Michael belonged to her now?"   
Maria paused. "Ok, I deserved that, I know. But we're not talking about Izzy, we're talking about the wicked bitch from Planet Lord-Knows-What. Max does have a son now, and he will be tied to Tess because of that, but he loves you and would never choose her over you."   
"He did it once, what's stopping him from doing it a second time?" Liz asked. Maria looked at her.   
"Liz, if I recall, YOU were the one who made that decision for him. YOU broke up with him when we were juniors. Don't let her win again! Ok, don't! I won't let you. You and Max are two of the most wonderful people in the universe, the only family I have, and you belong together- if you won't stand up for your love, then by GOD, I will!" Maria screamed at her. Liz was stunned by her forcefulness, but was happy at the same time that she and Maria were on the same side again.   
Michael slowly walked up behind Max, who was sobbing with his forehead against the window. "Michael what am I going to do?" He asked, sensing his best friend was near.   
He reached out a hand and placed it on Max's shoulder. "I don't know, Maxwell. I know you're going to have to work this out on your own. Liz can't help you, Maria can't help, neither can I. It's up to you." Max crumbled, turning around and hugging Michael.   
"Michael, I'm so sorry, for everything, for all the fights—you've always been my brother, that's never stopped being true…"   
"I'll never stop being there for you Maxwell." Michael said. "But this thing with Tess isn't just going to go away…"   
"I know," He said, nodding.   
"You're a father now." Michael said.   
The words echoed in Max's brain, lingering for a few seconds before making their exit into his memories. "I know. And I want to know my son."   
"That's good. That's a start."   
"But I want to be happy, with Liz." Max said. "I only love her. I can never love anyone as much as I love her."   
"You'll love Adam just as much. But in a different way."   
"Tess will never let me see him if I marry Liz."   
_ If…_ Max couldn't believe that "if" came out of his mouth before "I marry Liz." It had always been a given, they would marry, have a couple of kids, and grow old together. Why were these doubts registering in his brain now?   
"Max, I can talk to her, try to work out a compromise." Michael said, trying to comfort him.   
"We both know Tess. She's as stubborn as hell. She's a lot like you, Michael."   
Michael couldn't help but grin. "I know. But I'm her brother, maybe I can talk some sense into her…?" His voice trailed off as Maria and Liz walked up, their arms linked.   
"I'm going to stay with Liz at her friend Morgan's tonight. Is that okay?" She asked Michael.   
"I'm not your keeper. You can do what you want."   
"I know that, Michael. I just wanted to run it by you." Maria said calmly. Max tried to look at Liz, but she was avoiding his stare.   
"Sounds good." Michael said. "Can we get back to your place, Maxwell? Or go grab something to eat? I barely touched that crappy airplane food they gave us." He rubbed his stomach, looking at Maria.   
"Yeah, I'm hungry too." Maria piped in. "Guys?" She said, looking at Liz and Max. They were only looking longingly at each other. Maria smiled. _I give it two days, tops. _She thought. 

* * * * * * 

Max was sitting up in his bed. He looked over at the clock.   
3:14 A.M.   
"Dear Lord, let me fall asleep." He whispered. "Some time tonight. That's all I ask." He knew why he couldn't sleep. It had been his first night without Liz in what seemed like years. It probably was. Neither of them ever went out of town without the other. Liz never stayed over at other people's houses. Whenever she had to work late, he'd walk down to the store three blocks away and he'd walk her home. It was hard for him to sleep without her lying beside him, knowing she was safe with him. He tried to deny it, but he had a nagging fear. Tess was going to do something to harm her. She wasn't going to be able to get to him the normal way, so she'd get to him through his Achilles heel…   
The entire town of Roswell, NM, most of the student body of Boston University, and small corrupt sects of the FBI know that his Achilles heel is definitely Elizabeth Marie Parker.   
Now that he knew about Adam-Michael, his only son, being without him made him feel doubly awful and fearful.   
Michael walked into Max and Liz's bedroom then. He had been sleeping on their couch out in the living room. He rubbed his hands through his spiky brown hair and sat down on the edge of Max's bed.   
"You can't sleep either?" Max asked him.   
"Nope." Michael said. "Not a wink."   
"I'm sorry about the couch, I know it's not the most comfortable-" Max began.   
"No, no, it's not the couch, I just miss…"   
Max smiled. "Maria?"   
"Yeah." Michael said. He could see in the moonlight that Max had been crying. "You'll see Liz tomorrow, Maxwell."   
Max nodded. "I know." He tried to force a smile. "It's just not the same. I feel so…empty. Like someone has come along and ripped an entire part of my body off, and left me exposed…vulnerable."   
"Max, this is only temporary. Until you can settle things with Tess. You both said that."   
"It's not just that…I'm afraid…Liz isn't going to want to marry me anymore after all this." Max said.   
Michael chuckled. "The girl is nuts about you! She has been since we were 16 years old! Of course she wants to marry you. But she's human, she's hurt. It's not your fault. It's not anyone's fault. You just have to work through it so you can be together again."   
"I don't know how long I can take this. I haven't even survived a night yet." Max said, his eyes welling up with tears. He grabbed Liz's pillow and pressed it tightly to his chest. He could still smell her peach shampoo lingering on it.   
"It's the first night. It will get easier." Michael said. "And…I'm here man, as long as you need me. We've got to get to the bottom of this shit with Tess."   
"No kidding. I've got to get my son."   
Michael stared at him. "You want him, like full custody?"   
"It's worth a try…" Max said.   
Michael shook his head. "It will never stand up in court."   
"Why not?"   
"She's his mother, that's why not. She's been the only parent in the picture his entire life…" Michael began.   
"That's not my fault…" Max pleaded.   
"I know that, Maria knows that, Liz knows that, even Tess knows that…but the court won't see it like that."   
Max sighed. "Liz would make such a great mother to him."   
"Then have your own babies, Maxwell. Cause I'm sorry, but I don't think you're going to ever get Adam away from my sister."   
"She's using him as a pawn, Michael, can't you see that? A pawn in some sick, ridiculous game that I'm so tired of playing!" Max cried. "He's my son too and I have a right to be with him."   
The phone rang then. Both Max and Michael looked over to the Caller I.D. box. Max reached over, turning on the lamp next to the bed.   
"HARDING-EVANS, TESS. (617) 290-0666."   
Max's heart sank in disappointment.   
"What do you want, Tess?" He asked, picking up the phone.   
She paused. "Max, I was hoping you'd be a little more responsive to me. To our son. I never meant to hurt you."   
"Oh yeah, Tess?" Max shouted back at her. "Well you did hurt me. You kept Adam from me for almost five years!"   
"Five years this Christmas Day." Tess said, rubbing her belly subconsciously and smiling.   
Max's eyes filled up with tears. He had spent that Christmas with Liz, Isabel, Michael, Maria, Alex, and their families while his son was coming into the world. "He was born on Christmas?"   
"Yeah. He was big too, Nasedo delivered him in the cave where the pods are…the delivery was very difficult for me, because I'm so tiny. We almost lost Adam…"   
Max felt a twinge of pain. He couldn't help it. No matter what Tess had ever done to him, Adam-Michael would always be his son. Nothing would ever change that. "I'm sorry I wasn't there…to help."   
"You were with us, Max. You're always with us." Tess replied, smiling.   
Max felt conflicting emotions after hearing this. He was speechless. He shook his head, denying his happy memories with Tess all those years ago to flood his brain. It killed him a little more as she continued to jab the knife in deeper…   
"It was that night at the rock formation---we had a romantic picnic under the stars—then we…" She said slowly, smiling as she remembered.   
"You said you were on the pill, Tessa. You lied to me!" Max said, sternly as those disturbing yet strangely sensual images of that night came into his mind again.   
Tess chuckled then, somewhat sadistically.   
"Oops…" She said, smiling.   
Max was livid. "Look, if you think bringing Adam-Michael into the picture now is going to keep me from marrying Liz, you are SO wrong!"   
"Oh, really? I think it already has…." She said, prophetically.   
Max gasped. "How do you know…?"   
"I know everything, Max…everything about you and Liz. You wake up before her every morning, and you marvel at how wonderfully different the city of Boston always is. On Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Saturday nights, Liz works at Urban Outfitters on JFK Street. You work at Dr. Sutton's office in Cambridge on Mondays, Tuesdays, Fridays, and Saturdays. You and Liz like to eat lunch at Au Bon Pain in Harvard Square on pretty afternoons. You…make love to her…every free afternoon and every night…if you're both not too tired from working. And the nights you don't, you sleep in each other's arms and wake up to face the day all over again." Tess said, her eyes welling with tears as the last words escaped freely from her lips.   
"Max, what's she saying…Max?" Michael asked frantically.   
Max shook his head in disbelief. "This can't be happening…you are sick…"   
"Oh, but it is happening, Max. You know I'll stop at nothing to get what I want…" Tess began.   
"Including sacrificing your own son's happiness? Our son's happiness? Who's next, Tessa? Who's next in your sick little game?" Max screamed, the vein in his forehead pounding with anger. Michael tried to grab the phone from him, but he broke away.   
"It's not a game, Max. It's our destiny." Tess repeated.   
"No, it's not! I make my own life, my own destiny! And that life is with Liz! I will NEVER go back to you, Tess- do you hear me? Never!"   
"Well then," Tess said, livid. "We'll just have to do something about that now, won't we?"   
Max's heart stopped. "If you hurt Liz, if you hurt Adam-Michael, so help me Tess…"   
"Calm down. I would NEVER harm my own child. What do you think I am, some kind of monster?" She asked, taken aback.   
Max paused. "I'll never let you get to Liz."   
"Oh, really Max? How do you know she's not already here, sitting beside me? She's not sleeping with you tonight, so you're pretty clueless now, aren't you?" Tess said, grinning.   
Max gasped again. This was like some sort of nightmare he couldn't break free of.   
"Tess…" His voice was choked by fear, anger, and tears.   
Mostly fear.   
"Leave her alone… I'll do…anything you want. Please. Just don't hurt her." Max pleaded, freely crying now.   
"Oh, I'm counting on it, my love." Tess said. "Now, don't try to call here or arrange visits with your son. We'll find you. Rest well, my darling." She made kissing noises into the phone.   
"Tess!" He cried. The line went dead. Max hung up the phone to see Michael with his head in his hands.   
"God, Maxwell- I am so sorry." Michael said.   
"She's going to hurt Liz- I've got to get to her before Tess does." Max said, mumbling to himself and rummaging in his dresser for a shirt to wear.   
"Maxwell, no!" Michael said.   
"Michael, let go of me!" Max said, pulling Michael's arm from his. "Liz needs to be with me so I can protect her!" Max said, his eyes welling up with tears. "She's going to kill Liz, she's going to hurt her, she's going to…and it's all my fault, my fault, she's going to kill my baby, my angel, my…my…" Max crumbled onto the floor.   
The phone rang as they were struggling. They both froze and ran to check the Caller I.D. box.   
"PATRICK, MORGAN E (617) 419-6442."   
Max's heart jumped.   
"It's Liz! Something's wrong!" Max cried. Michael picked up the phone. Max was shaking too badly to talk.   
"Liz?" Michael asked, picking up the phone.   
"This is Morgan, I need to speak to Max." Morgan said into the phone.   
"This is Michael, Max's brother, what's up? Are Liz and Maria ok?" Michael asked.   
"You guys need to get over here right away." Morgan replied solemnly. "Liz is really sick."   
"What?" Michael cried. "What's wrong with her?"   
"She's been throwing up for like two hours straight. And she's been mumbling things, hallucinating…"   
"We'll be right there!" Michael cried, hanging up the phone and grabbing Max.   
"Oh my God! What's wrong with her? Tess got to her! No!" Max screamed.   
"Maxwell, it's nothing like that. Liz is…really sick." Michael said.   
"What?" Max said.   
"That's all Morgan would say, we've got to get over there. How long will it take us?"   
"Ten minutes," Max said. "We've just got to go across the street to the parking garage and get the car."   
Michael walked into the other room and pulled a shirt on, and grabbed his jacket. Max did the same. The latter said nothing to the former, but he was terrified.   
He had a sinking feeling that Tess really had lived up to her promise.   
* * * * 

_"Into the morning light_   
_Followed by madness_   
_Reach through the empty fight_   
_Searching through sadness_

_I know it's been a long road_   
_To get these fears behind me and I_   
_Will gladly reap what we may sow I am_   
_There for you and you're there for me" ~ Vertical Horizon_

Max's heart raced as they reached the front door to Morgan's condo. His mind raced on to a million different things. What was wrong with Liz?   
Michael steadied him as they raced to the front door. Without knocking, Morgan opened it.   
The look in her eyes was enough to chill Max and Michael to the bone.   
"Come in." Morgan said, ushering the two to come inside. It wasn't long before Maria was in the foyer, rushing into Michael's arms.   
"Where's Liz?" Max screamed, trying to push his way inside. Michael put his hand on Max's shoulder.   
"Oh, Michael, I'm so scared for her," Maria said. She looked at his eyes. "We know that you guys will know what to do."   
"Take me to Liz." Max said, directing his gaze at Morgan.   
Morgan paused. "Okay." She said, holding a cold washcloth. "Give this to her. She's in my bedroom, the second door on your right when you go up the stairs."   
Max rushed up the stairs, running into Morgan's bedroom and slamming the door behind him. "Liz! Oh God!" He ran over to her bedside. She was lying cold and still on the bed, her sweaty body lying on top of the covers, a washcloth lying on her feet and forehead. Her eyes were shut and flung open when Max came in the room. He kissed her cheek, wrapping his arms around her. "Liz, baby, I was so worried, are you all right?"   
Liz didn't answer, but put a hand on Max's cheek.   
"Max, I'm ten days late."   
Max paused, fully understanding the gravity of what she was telling him.   
"You're…?"   
"Yeah." She said, smiling, rubbing her belly.   
"Is that why you're getting so… oh God, Liz, if I had known this was going to happen to you…" Max said, grabbing her hand and kissing it gently.   
"Max, don't apologize, my love." She said, her voice strained and weak. "I've never been so happy in my whole life."   
"But you've never been so sick either."   
Liz paused, taking a deep breath and trying to continue. "I can't explain it…it's like some kind of force is taking over my body. Something I can't control, even if I wanted to…"   
"Is it our…" Max began, putting his hand on her belly.   
"I think so." Liz said. She raised her shirt and Max was stunned to see a small glowing symbol right below her navel.   
"Liz!" Max cried. "That's the symbol!" He recognized it from his dreams, and from Isabel's necklace they had found in Atherton's Dome so many years before.   
"Yeah," She said, weakly, trying to smile. "What's going to happen to me, Max?" She began crying. Max held her.   
He felt like he was being stabbed in the heart, to think he had been the one to do this to her. To this beautiful creature, his beautiful angel. He'd been the one to make her so weak and so sick…carrying this child for them.   
Liz knew what he was thinking. "Max, it's not your fault. I'm just…"   
"Scared?"   
"Yes. Terrified."   
"I'm calling Isabel."   
"Okay." She said. "I think that would be a good idea."   
Max looked over to the table and grabbed the phone. He hadn't talked to his sister in a couple of weeks and he knew she would kick his ass for calling her in the middle of the night, but it had to be done.   
* * * *   
_Albuquerque, New Mexico._   
_Alex and Isabel Whitman's home._   
_2:46 A.M._

Michaela Diane Whitman slept soundly in her crib, her jet-black hair shimmering in the moonlight. She obviously had gotten her hair from her father. Her mother hovered over her, kissing her gently.   
"Goodnight, baby girl." Isabel Whitman cooed, ecstatic that she had had a "Good Mommy Day". She'd been able to get a crying Michaela back to sleep without much fuss. She was only four months old, but Isabel felt like her life had completely changed in that short amount of time. Michaela was the center of her universe, and Isabel loved it that way.   
The phone rang then and Isabel jumped a mile. She looked at her watch.   
2:46 A.M. What are they thinking?   
"This better be important, whoever it is!" She groaned into the phone, quickly leaving the room and shutting the door behind her sleeping daughter.   
"Hey, Izzy, it's me. I'm sorry to wake you." He said.   
"Max," Isabel said frantically. "You didn't wake me, is everything ok?"   
"Well…" His voice trailed off. "I needed to ask you some questions."   
Isabel narrowed her gaze. "At 3 A.M., Max? Couldn't it have waited until morning?"   
"Liz is pregnant."   
Isabel smiled. "Max, that's, that's wonderful! Congratulations!" Isabel could tell from the sound of his voice that something was wrong. "So what's the matter?"   
"She's sick. Very sick."   
"What, like morning sickness? That's normal, Max."   
"No, she's been throwing up all night, having hallucinations, sweating like crazy, fainting spells, dizziness…"   
Isabel gasped. "Oh my God! The poor thing!"   
"And that's not the creepy part…on her belly…there's a glowing symbol…"   
Isabel paused. "What…kind…of symbol?"   
"The symbol from your necklace. The one from your dreams. The one that lead Nasedo and Tess to us all those years ago."   
"Oh my God…" Isabel said.   
"Did that happen to you when you were pregnant with Michaela?" Max asked. Liz grabbed his hand as she drifted off to sleep.   
"No…I mean, my pregnancy was pretty normal, as far as pregnancies go…just some morning sickness and insomnia, but no glowing symbols or hallucinations or anything…" Isabel had walked in the kitchen, pulling out a leftover piece of chocolate cake. She walked over to the cabinet, pulling out one of the dozens of bottles of hot sauce that were standing inside. She started shaking a bottle onto the cake and shoved a small piece into her mouth.   
"Maybe that's because…"   
"Alex is human? Yeah, we talked about that- that could be it. We're just going to have to see what happens to Liz…since this is the first pregnancy involving one of us as the father."   
"Isabel, Liz is in pain, I'm not going to sit by and watch her suffer."   
"Well, Max, I really don't know what else we can do for her…" Isabel began.   
"I'm going to talk to Tess in the morning…" He said idly, not realizing Isabel had no idea she was an aunt already.   
"Tess?" Isabel asked. "What are you talking about, Max?"   
Max paused. He knew he had to tell Isabel sometime, so he sucked in his breath and went for it.   
"She showed up in Boston a couple of weeks ago. I didn't tell you because I didn't want to worry you. She brought…" Max paused. He couldn't bring himself to say it.   
"She brought what, Max?"   
"My son. Our son. Me and Tess's son." Max repeated. He looked over at a sleeping Liz and kissed her head.   
"YOUR SON?" Isabel screamed, dropping the fork onto the floor with a loud clanging noise.   
"I know, Isabel, I was just as surprised as you were."   
"Oh my God, Max…" Isabel began. "I have a nephew? I never knew about?" She began tearing up. "What's his name? How old is he? Does he look like you?"   
Max sighed, the sight of his precious little boy coming back into his mind. "His name is Adam-Michael. He's almost 5. And according to Michael, he looks exactly like me."   
"Oh, wow…Max…well, how are you taking it?" She said, leaning over to pick the fork up from the floor. She walked over to the sink and rinsed the fork off with hot water.   
Max paused. "I don't know, I mean, I'd be ecstatic if Tess wasn't his mother…"   
Isabel paused. Her blonde hair shone in the moonlight, and she had lost all the weight she had gained during her pregnancy with Michaela. She had never looked more radiant, according to her doting husband, Alex.   
"But he's your son, Max. That will never change. You can't blame him for being born to Tess." Isabel said, munching on her cake. "He's here now, and you have to accept that."   
Max sighed. "It's been so long. I've missed so much of his life…what if he doesn't…accept me?"   
Isabel smiled. "Max, you're his daddy. Of course he wants you in his life. He's just a little boy. He doesn't understand fate and destiny and your history with Tess and Liz for that matter. He just knows that you're his daddy and he loves you. That's all that matters."   
"I know, I mean, I want to be a good father to both my kids- Adam-Michael, and this new…" He looked longingly at a sleeping Liz. "…edition."   
"You will be, Max. Loving things and caring about people comes naturally to you. You have a kind heart and a gentle soul. You were so sweet with Michaela when you and Liz came to visit right after she was born."   
Max couldn't help but smile. He took the phone and raised Liz's shirt up ever-so-slightly, trying not to disturb her. He caressed his fingers over the strange glowing symbol. He spoke to it sweetly. "Hello, baby. I'm your daddy. And this is your Aunt Izzy." He put the receiver over Liz's belly and Isabel smiled.   
"Hi, little one." She whispered. "I can't wait to meet you!" It warmed her heart to hear her brother so happy. He picked up the receiver and smiled.   
"Thanks," He said. He kissed Liz's belly and she subconsciously flung her hand into his hair. He waited for a moment, smiling into her stomach until she was settled. He then slowly moved his head away from her, kissing her open palm as she slept.   
"Wait till Mom hears about this one." Isabel said, rolling her eyes.   
"Oh, no…what are we going to tell her? Surprise! You have a four year old grandson!" Max said, grimacing.   
"And another one on the way!" Isabel said, smirking. "We'll think of something."   
Max nodded. Even though he had always been thought of as the "leader" of the three of them, he always counted on Isabel to support him. She was the rock he leaned on. 

* * * *   
Maria, Michael, and Morgan sat in the living room of Morgan's condo, talking and drinking hot tea.   
"Morgan, how long have you and Liz been good friends?" Michael asked. While she wasn't looking, he'd grabbed a bottle of Tabasco from her cupboard and poured a good bit into his tea. It tasted perfect.   
"Oh, since our freshman year at BU. We were paired as roommates."   
"You're from North Carolina?" Maria asked.   
"Yeah, Charlotte." Morgan nodded, sipping on her tea.   
"Do you miss home?" Michael asked. It was obvious he was trying to make small talk.   
"Sometimes. I mean, I miss my…family…I have great friends up here and an awesome boyfriend named Owen. Here's his picture right here." She seemed uncomfortable with the question until she picked up a gold picture frame lying on the coffee table and showed it to them.   
"You guys are cute together." Maria said, smiling.   
"Yeah, we've been together for about two years." Morgan said, smiling. She sighed at touched the picture with her hand. "He works with my best friend for her production company, and they're away right now in California. I miss them."   
"Must be hard. We know what it's like to be away from best friends." Maria said, nodding.   
Morgan smiled. "Liz and Max talk about you guys all the time. You obviously mean a lot to them."   
Michael nodded. "Max and I have always been like brothers. Maria and Liz have always been like sisters. So I guess you could say we're close." Michael couldn't put his finger on it, but there was something weird about Morgan and this line of questioning.   
There was an uncomfortable silence in the room until Max came down the stairs with Liz in his arms.   
"I'm taking her home." Max said to Morgan. "Thanks for all your help."   
Morgan jumped up, frantic. "But are you sure it's okay to move her? I mean, I don't want her to get any worse…"   
Everyone looked at her. Obviously she didn't know not to get between Max and Liz. The results could be pretty nasty.   
Max narrowed his gaze at her. "I'm _taking her home_." He repeated firmly. Morgan ran to the door, trying to block their entrance.   
"No, Max, you really hurt Liz, and I'm not going to…let you walk out of here with her, pretending…everything's ok!" Morgan screamed.   
Maria's jaw dropped. Morgan was in for it now!   
"Morgan, I'm taking my fiancée home, now get out of my way!" Max said, pushing her gently away from the door and allowing Michael to open it. Maria grabbed her purse and Liz's bag from the table in the foyer.   
"Max," Morgan said with fire in her eyes as the foursome filed out of the door.   
They were halfway to the car when they turned around.   
Morgan began to say something, but didn't.   
She turned around and went back inside, slamming the door behind her.   
"What a weirdo!" Michael said, shaking his head.   
"She's never been that strange before. Something's up." Max said, carrying Liz around to the back door and laying her head gently in Maria's lap. She stirred a little bit and Maria noticed the glowing symbol on her stomach.   
"Oh my God, Max!" She cried.   
Michael and Max looked back.   
"Holy shit, Maxwell…what does that…?" Michael began, turning around from the front passenger seat.   
"She's pregnant." Max said, starting the car.   
Michael and Maria looked at him with mouths gaping.   
* * * * 

From inside the condo, Morgan was pacing back and forth inside the foyer, a phone at her ear.   
"Look, I'm sorry, I couldn't finish it, okay?" She said frantically into the receiver.   
"What do you MEAN you're SORRY?" The voice on the other line screamed at her. "You can change into ANY human body, have a multitude of powers that no human possesses, and you couldn't carry off a simple poisoning? You're USELESS!"   
"Tessa, don't you _dare_ speak to me that way." Morgan's tone of voice got extremely heavy and dark. It almost scared Tess.   
"You will get the job done. And you will do it tomorrow." Tess said. "I can't have Liz in the way anymore."   
"You're not listening to me. I may not have to do the job at all…she may be dying."   
"What do you mean?" Tess asked, intrigued.   
"She's carrying Max's baby."   
Tess's heart stopped.   
"WHAT?" She screamed. Morgan held the phone away from her ear.   
"She's pregnant with Max's baby, and she's gotten very sick. The baby seems to be draining her energy or something, her life force, I don't know." Morgan said. "We've never had to deal with a hybrid birth like this."   
"Isabel never had this problem."   
"No, she didn't, because she is alien and was carrying a half-alien child. Liz is human carrying a half-alien child. It's extremely different."   
"Don't worry, Tess. Liz will be out of the picture one way or the other." Morgan said. "You have my word."   
"Make it fast. Adam-Michael is starting to ask where his father is and it's making me _terribly_ upset." Tess said, pouting like a spoiled brat.   
"Of course. You and Max are meant to be together. Leave it to me. You will be together once again." Morgan said.   
"Nasedo, I knew I could always count on you. I'll be in touch." Tess said, hanging up the phone.   
Morgan/Nasedo switched off the phone and smiled.   
"The party's over, Liz."   
* * * * * * 

**_"This sets my heart to fluttering in my breast, for when I look on you a moment, then can I speak no more, but my tongue falls silent, and at once a delicate flame courses beneath my skin…_**   
**_and with my eyes I see nothing, and my ears hum, and a cold sweat bathes me, and trembling seizes me all over, and I am paler than grass, and I feel near death…" - Sappho_**

The sun was beginning to rise when Max, Liz, Michael, and Maria finally made it back to Max and Liz's apartment. Max carried Liz into their bed, pulling off her shoes and tucking her in tight. She barely stirred. Her face was pale and sickly, and she obviously was in a great deal of pain. While Michael and Maria fell asleep immediately on the sleeper sofa in the living room, Max laid beside Liz and watched her sleep. His eyes were baggy and the dark circles of sleeplessness were beginning to show, but he didn't care. As long as he was awake, he could protect her from whatever was killing her.   
She squinted in her sleep through vivid bouts with pain and nausea. Max couldn't help but break into choked sobs. He kissed the top of her forehead, which he had been cooling with a washcloth. Somewhere in the back of his mind, a fleeting thought occurred:   
_Dear Lord, make this baby disappear._   
He couldn't believe he was saying that about their child, but it was just too hard for Liz. She just couldn't go on living like this. The dilemma of their situation made him cry even harder and more forcefully.   
Liz opened her tired eyes then, moaning.   
"Liz," Max said, kissing her. "Please let me know what I can do to help you."   
"Just…hold me." Liz said. "I'm scared, Max." She crawled into his waiting arms, crying against his bare chest. He petted her smooth brown hair and kissed the top of her head.   
"It's going to be all right." Max said, trying to blindly reassure the both of them. "At least you're not throwing up anymore…has your nausea gotten any worse?"   
"Actually, the nausea is going away…" Liz said. "I'm just so, dizzy…" Her eyes fluttered closed again.   
"Get some sleep." Max said. "Save your strength."   
"No, I'm not, I'm not…" She said, "…tired. Just dizzy."   
"Well, do you want me to make you some hot tea or something? That always helps you sleep."   
She frantically cried.   
"NO!" She screamed. "No! I don't want tea!"   
He turned around, startled by her frantic screaming.   
"Lizzie, honey, what's wrong? I thought you liked tea." He said, walking back towards her and pulling her back into his warm embrace. She curled into his chest.   
"That's what made me sick, I think…I mean, I drank it and it tasted kind of funny, but Morgan kept making me drink it, and I was too weak to stop…"   
"What?" Max cried, his eyes glowing with rage. "She did what?"   
"She was forcing it down my throat, telling me it would make me feel better, but it tasted awful, and I tried to stop her…" She said, crying and moaning like a child.   
Max looked at her with horror. "Morgan was acting so strangely tonight. She stood in front of the door when I was carrying you out, Liz, she was physically trying to stop me from leaving with you."   
Liz was shaking her head. "I can't put my finger on it, Max…"   
"But…"   
"Something's definitely…wrong with her…" Liz said. "She…she…"   
"She what?" Max asked frantically.   
"Oh my God!" Liz said, sitting up in her bed like a rocket, her breath ragged, her eyes overflowing with tears of pain.   
"What, Liz, what?" Max asked, holding on to her.   
"I just remembered something…like it was pushed back in my head and now…it's so clear…" Her eyes were wide and glowing.   
"What? What is it?"   
"I thought I heard…Tess… calling my name, over and over in my brain…" Liz said, closing her eyes. "'Goodbye, Liz…Goodbye, it won't be long now…'" She kept repeating. Liz shuddered, burying her face in Max's chest, trying to get the voice to go away. Max looked down at her, crumbling.   
_She's losing it. She's having a nervous breakdown. She's in pain because of me._   
Liz clutched her stomach in pain. "Shh, shh, baby, shh, no one's ever going to hurt you…"   
Max put his hand to her stomach, staring at the strange glowing symbol that seemed to be fading. It mesmerized him. He gently laid Liz back on the bed, soothing her cries.   
"No one's going to hurt her. No one is ever going to hurt her." Liz kept repeating.   
"Lizzie, who's trying to hurt her?" He asked, laying beside her, nuzzling into her neck and soothing her with gentle kisses.   
"Tess. Tess is going to hurt our baby, Max. I can feel it. She's hurting her now." Liz began crying.   
"Tess is hurting you now? " Max said. "How do you know?"   
Liz said nothing, but put her hand on the side of his face, and he got a flash.   
_He could feel the pain inside of her._   
_ He could feel the life energy of their child being taken away by something…someone…_   
_ Their baby was dying._   
Max looked into her eyes as they both sobbed.   
"No…" He whispered. Liz put his hand on her belly as she laid back in front of him. He got another flash.   
**_A tiny raven-haired beauty twirling around on the sand._**   
**_Liz runs over to her, scooping her up in her arms, and they twirl around, laughing and playing together._**   
**_The little girl is beautiful, she looks like a tiny version of Liz._**   
**_He sees himself there too. Liz puts the little girl down and she runs into his arms._**   
**_"Daddy! Daddy!" She squeals in delight as she flies into his arms._**   
**_"Jordana, my precious baby girl…" He says, kissing the top of her head. "You better stop twirling or you're going to fall down!"_**   
**_"But I love to fall, Daddy! Falling in the sand is so fun!" She squeals back._**   
**_He smiles, tickling her._**   
**_"Daddy stop it! Daddy!" She screams, laughing and squirming out of his arms._**   
**_Liz comes over to them then, smiling._**   
**_"Jordana, it's time for lunch, sweetheart." Liz said. "Come eat your sandwich."_**   
**_"No, Mommy, I want to play with Daddy." Jordana replied._**   
**_"Aww, come on Lizzie, just a little while longer." He said, pleading with Liz on his hands and knees before her. Jordana saw him doing this and copied him._**   
**_"Yeah, come on, Mommy, pleeeeeease?" She asked, smiling sweetly. Liz squeezed her cheeks._**   
**_"Now how can I say no to a precious little face like that? Of course, you can play as long as you want. Just tell me when you get hungry, ok?" Liz said, kneeling down to her young daughter's eye level._**   
**_"Yeah!" She said, squealing with delight. "Come on, Daddy, let's go make a sandcastle!" Her tiny hand reached out for his and he smiled._**   
**_Then it happened._**   
**_As soon as Jordana had grabbed his hand, he felt it slipping away._**   
**_Tess had appeared out of nowhere, grabbing Jordana and pulling her away from him._**   
**_"Tess! No! Let go of her!" He screamed. Tess flung Jordana into her arms and raced towards the ocean spread out like a blanket in front of them._**   
**_"Tess! Let go of my baby!" Liz screamed, joining him as they fled towards the water._**   
**_But it was no use._**   
**_The more they ran, the further Tess took Jordana out into the dark, cold water._**   
**_Then they both vanished.>>_**   
"Tess!" Max screamed as the flash ended.   
Liz looked into his eyes. "That's how I know. Max, that scene has been playing in my mind all night. Tess is doing something to me, to the baby, I don't know what it is…" She began crying again, rubbing her tummy.   
"Liz, oh God, baby, I'm not going to let her do this…"   
"How are you going to stop her?" Liz asked pointedly. "You can't stop her forcing her way into my body like this."   
"No, Liz, I will. I will stop her. I'll do anything." He thought briefly about killing Tess, but then he saw a vision of his son. His son would be devastated at the loss of his mother, no matter how genuinely evil she was. He kissed the top of Liz's head, then kissed her stomach. "I'm not going to let her hurt Jordana."   
Liz smiled. "I think we should name her that too…"   
"I think it's a beautiful name…" Max said, smiling. Tears came to his eyes. He couldn't get the image of his beautiful baby girl being ripped from him by Tess.   
Liz rubbed the top of his head as he rested the side of his head on her belly. Within moments, they both had fallen asleep. 

* * * * *   
Tess opened her eyes and smiled.   
"It won't be long now. They are both as good as gone…" She said, smiling to herself. She looked over at her nightstand, at a picture of she and Max. She then glanced over to the picture of their son next to it. Using her powers of manipulation, she moved the image of Adam-Michael over to the photo of she and Max. It looked like the three had posed for a picture together. One smiling, happy family.   
"That's better." She said, smiling. She moved her hands across the photo and brought it up to her mouth, kissing the image of Max. "Darling, we'll be together soon." With that, she turned off the light and went to sleep.   
She smiled, knowing the plan was set in motion. They had no idea that Morgan was really Nasedo… and she was growing progressively more successful at breaking into Liz's unconscious…getting her to reject her baby… and now, she just had to break into Max's dreams, getting him to think about making love to her again.   
"That should be easy enough…" Tess laughed ominously. "He's gorgeous, but so weak." She chuckled and rolled over, closing her eyes.   


**_"You were standing all alone against the world outside…you were searching for a place to hide…lost and lonely, now you've given me the will to survive. When we're hungry, love will keep us alive."- The Eagles_**   
_Her kinky-curly blonde hair fell down around him, and he loved it._   
_ He gets such pleasure out of hearing her call his name, over and over and over again…_   
_ He feels her hot, open-mouth kisses streaming down his body._   
_ He can feel it coming, and he can't stop himself._   
_ He has to have her._   
_ He grabs her shoulders, pulling her towards him and assaults her with the kisses he knows she likes._   
_ He pushes her into the bed and she moans with delight._   
_ Their lower bodies begin moving in unison and he wastes no time plunging into her._   
_ "Oh, Max! Don't stop!" He hears her scream._   
_ He's not listening._   
_ He's caught up in his own wave of desire._   
_ "Yes! Yes!" She screams, the sound of her voice ripping into him like a knife into his heart, and tearing up his insides._

"No!" Max screamed, sitting up in his bed. "No! Oh, God, no!" He rubs his hands furiously across his face and over his naked body, hoping to wash the disgusting, dirty feeling still hanging on him from his nightmare. His chest rose and fell in furious fits of breath, stinging his lungs and making his heart race like a bullet.   
Then he felt it.   
Liz's gentle hand touching his face.   
"Sweetheart…" She said, her soothing words falling down like a cleansing rain over his soul.   
"Liz, Liz, oh God, I'm so sorry…" He said, burying his face into her neck and sobbing.   
"Shh…don't apologize…just rest." She said quietly.   
She knew he had dreamed of Tess again, and it was tearing him apart inside.   
It had been a week since the night she had almost died, and her pregnancy was already becoming noticeable. This worried Max and Liz because it seemed her pregnancy was moving along at an extremely rapid rate. And since this was the first human/alien baby in which a human was carrying the fetus, they weren't sure how long the gestation period would last. Isabel's pregnancy had gone to full term- the normal human 40 weeks.   
Liz ran one hand through Max's hair, which was pasted to his head with sweat. She ran her left hand down her body and let it rest on her growing belly. Since she was studying to become an obstetrician, she had some idea about how she much she should be showing, according to how long she had been pregnant. Their child had been conceived about ten weeks before, but she was already looking like she was 16 weeks along. At this rate, she would be having the baby in another four months. Because of their situation, she couldn't go to the OB/GYN to get checkups, and it worried her to no end. She knew she should be getting pre-natal care for the good of both she and her baby. To ease her worries, Max had bought her seven different pregnancy books and three different essential pre-natal vitamins. She had been in the middle of reading one of these books when he woke up screaming.   
"Liz, this one…it was different…"   
"Why, Max? What was different about it?" She placed the book on the nightstand and snuggled into his chest, their bare stomachs touching. They loved lying together this way, it made them feel safe with their baby between them.   
"It just felt, so real…like she's getting close. Very close. Are you having anymore visions of her?" He asked Liz.   
"No, I haven't had one since last week when I got so sick… do you think that means maybe she's giving up?"   
Max looked into his fiancé's hopeful eyes. He couldn't believe they weren't even married yet and they were facing all these problems. Their wedding was only two and a half months away and they still had so much planning to do. "I don't think she'll give up…until she gets what she wants." He said quietly, brushing a piece of her auburn hair back behind her ear.   
"And all she wants is you."   
Max nodded solemnly.   
"Well she's not going to win, Max. I'm not going to let her. We're not going to let her." Liz said, placing his hand on her stomach. "Do you feel that?"   
He smiled. "Yeah…" His eyes got wide with wonder.   
"That's our baby in there. Jordana- she's yours and mine. We have to beat Tess for her. If not for ourselves, we have to help our baby. She's this innocent little thing growing inside of me, and I would rather die myself than see any harm come to her." Liz said, choking back tears as she remembered her terrifying vision of Tess kidnapping Jordana.   
"Liz…" He said, giving her one sweet but sensual kiss on her waiting lips. "I love you, so much. I never thought I could love anyone as much as I love you."   
Her answer made his pulse quicken, his blood racing furiously through his veins with so much velocity it almost ached.   
"Please make love to me, Max." She whispered, taking his hand and moving it from her neck, down the length of her body, finally resting between her legs.   
He didn't answer her. He let his desire and his longing take over and he ravished her. 

* * * * * *   
**_Two Days Later…_**

Liz and Max had taken Michael and Maria to the airport early that morning for their flight back to California. Their separation would be brief, though. Michael and Maria loved Boston so much and because of the Tess situation, felt the need to be close to Max and Liz, so they decided they would be moving there by the end of the month. They had already found a small apartment in Allston, not too far from Liz and Max's place, and only footsteps away from Boston University. They had gone back to Santa Monica to get their things together and try to sell their apartment.   
Liz walked into her Bioethics class 15 minutes late, carrying a cup of orange juice and a bagel. She looked radiant- the pregnancy was making her glow all over and she was wearing a lavender sundress that showed the slightest hint of her growing belly. She quickly and quietly found her usual seat next to Morgan and sat down next to her. Morgan looked over at her and smiled.   
"Liz, are you ok? You're late." Morgan said, gesturing to her belly.   
"What?" Liz cried. Morgan couldn't know she was pregnant. _How could she have known…_   
"Class starts at 8, honey." Morgan said, smiling. She looked at her watch. "It's almost 8:20. Why, what did you think I was talking about?"   
"Oh, nothing." Liz shook her head furiously, pulling her notebook from her messenger bag and putting it on her desk. She placed her cup of orange juice on her desk as well, and sat her bagel on her lap, taking bites every few moments. "So what did I miss?"   
"Oh, nothing…Prof's babbling on like he always does…" Morgan said, rolling her eyes. "Are you ok? You don't look so hot. Like you've been up all night or something…"   
Liz's eyes opened wide. Morgan was never this inquisitive, not at 8 in the morning. They had lived together for two years and both knew the other wasn't coherent until about 1 in the afternoon.   
"Oh, I've just been a little sick… still getting over that weird flu thing from last week, ya know?" She said, trying to smile. She couldn't shake the feeling that Morgan was acting very strange. Morgan grinned, nodding. They exchanged a quick glance before both returned their attention to the professor.   
"So, I'd like one of you all to come up here and write out Blackburn's theorem… of the probability that a patient who claims to want to die is really telling the truth…" The professor's eyes searched slowly around the classroom, stopping at Liz. He smiled. "Ahh, Ms. Parker. Since you seem to have gotten a little extra sleep, you should be well refreshed and able to come up and write out this problem for everyone."   
Liz grinned sheepishly as everyone in the lecture hall turned around to stare at her.   
"Um, okay." She said, slowly placing her bagel and juice back on the desk and rising from her chair. As she walked down the steps to the front of the auditorium, she felt dozens of pairs of eyes staring into her. She could hear a few whispering about her.   
"Is she pregnant?" She heard one girl whisper with a shocked look on her face. Liz shrugged it off. She didn't know the girl, so who cared? She finally made it to the overhead projector and the professor handed her a pen.   
"Okay, so the problem is…umm…" She began carefully writing out the formulas for the Blackburn theorem on the overhead. She looked over at her professor several times to see him nodding with approval. When she was finished, everyone clapped, and she looked back to Morgan in terror.   
**_Morgan was putting something into her juice!_**   
"Calm, Liz, calm, don't panic…" She said under her breath, steadying herself.   
"Thank you, Ms. Parker. Excellent work. You can return to your seat now." The professor said, smiling. Liz began slowly walking up the stairs, trying to avoid Morgan's gaze. When she got back up to her chair, Morgan looked up from her notebook and smiled.   
"Great job, Lizzie! You're going to have to help me with that one, I don't understand it." Morgan said sweetly.   
Liz glared down at her, still standing above her. She picked up her juice cup, and began to raise it to her lips. She saw Morgan staring at her through the corner of her eye.   
"On second thought…" Liz said, moving the cup away from her mouth. "I think you need the juice more than me." She said, pouring the cup over Morgan's head.   
"LIZ!" Morgan screamed, jumping up from her seat. "What the HELL is the matter with you?" Everyone had turned to look back at Liz and her juice-drenched companion. Morgan raised a hand to slap her, but Liz was quicker. She grabbed Morgan's hand and twisted her arm around.   
"I know what you're trying to do." Liz said, smiling sweetly. "It isn't going to work. You're never going to get to my baby." She leaned over to whisper into Morgan's ear, while still holding her in a tight grip. "And do me a favor…tell Tess that she needs to give it up. She'll never take Max away from me..."   
Morgan/Nasedo's eyes widened in fear. She quickly realized who she was dealing with- a mere human, and smiled.   
"Liz, darling, enjoy your time with Max. It won't be much longer. Not even with this mutt child of yours." She placed her hand on Liz's stomach and Liz crouched over in pain. She smiled, grabbed her bag, and walked out of the classroom, leaving a pile of juice behind her.   
"Oh, God…someone help me…please!" Liz screamed out. Two guys and a girl rushed over to her and helped her stand back up.   
"Are you ok?" A blonde guy asked her.   
"What did she do to you?" The brunette guy asked her.   
Liz looked around, the room was spinning. She grabbed the girl, who had her hand stretched out. "Get, my fiancé…Max Evans…he's in this building…upstairs…room 306…hurry…"   
The girl looked at her, and then up to the guys in terror. She ran out of the room, quickly doing what Liz had asked her.   
Her eyes fluttered shut as she struggled to keep them open. The waves of pain throughout her body were becoming unbearable.   
"No, no…" She sobbed. "This can't be happening…" The two guys put their arms around her, trying to stop her from crying. The professor ran up to Liz, holding her hand and giving her some tissue.   
"Liz, what's wrong, dear?" He asked, frantic.   
She shook her head in a daze. The two guys looked up at their teacher.   
"We don't know, sir… that girl put her hand on Liz's stomach, then she crouched over…" The brunette guy chimed in.   
"She's in a lot of pain, sir." The blonde guy piped in. "Stacy went to go get her boyfriend."   
"Oh dear." The professor said, putting his hand on Liz's forehead. "She's burning up."   
"Maybe we should get a doctor or something…" The blonde guy said.   
"No! No!" Liz screamed, her eyes shut tightly in pain and her fists clenched over the brunette guy's outstretched arms. "Only Max…he's the only one that can help…"   
"Liz, are you pregnant?" The professor said.   
"Yes, yes, I think my baby's…" Liz said, sobs choking her speech. The realization that something was really wrong was bringing on waves of fresh tears.   
The blonde guy looked up at the brunette guy and they looked over at the professor in terror. They were so sad to be holding a seemingly sweet girl who was going through such incredible pain.   
The door opened and Stacy and Max ran in. "I got him Liz!" She screamed.   
"Liz! Oh God!" Max said, running over to her and grabbing her from the two guys. "What happened?"   
"It was her, Max…Morgan…she did something to me…" Liz said, through waves of pain. "Jordana… she's dying…"   
Max's eyes lit up in terror. He scooped her up quickly and ran her out of the room. "Thanks for helping her, but I'll take it from here."   
When Max and Liz were gone, the professor put his head in his hands.   
"I hope she's going to be ok." The professor said, walking back to the front of the auditorium. He grabbed his microphone from the nearby table and sighed. "Class is dismissed."   
Stacy's eyes watered. "She looked so scared." The blonde guy hugged her.   
"I know, Stace." He said, kissing the top of her head.   
The brunette guy looked off into the direction of the door.   
"I hope he can help." He added as the class began to gather their things and file out of the auditorium. 

* * * * *   
**_ "Do I know you from somewhere? Why do you leave me wanting more? … Kiss me I'm dying... Put your hand on my skin… I close my eyes… I need to make a connection… I'm walking on a thin line… I close my eyes… I close my eyes… Touch me I'm trying… To see inside of your soul… I've got this thing… I want to make a correction… I'm not like this all the time… You've got this thing… you've got this thing… Do I know you from somewhere? Why do you leave me wanting more? … Kiss me, I'm dying… Put your hand on my skin… I close my eyes… I need to have your protection… I close my eyes… I close your eyes…" - Madonna_**

Max clutched Liz close to his body, racing out of the auditorium and running until he found a safe place to take her- an unlocked janitor's closet in the hallway. He pulled off his jacket and laid it on the floor in the closet, while making sure the door was locked behind him.   
"Max, Max, hurry… I don't think…" Liz said, her eyes fluttering with warm wet tears. He ran over to her and pulled her sundress up just enough to reveal her small belly. His eyes lit up in horror when he saw what was there…   
The symbol was turning from its peaceful iridescent glow to an ominous black.   
"Oh, God, Liz…what did she do to you?"   
Liz opened her eyes, her entire body violently shaking. "Morgan…she's Nasedo…she touched my stomach…and that's why…I'm like this…it's her, Max…it's her…" She kept repeating.   
He touched her stomach and he got a horrifying flash.   
Instead of the serene white light he usually sees, accompanied by the smiling face of his unborn daughter, he saw nothing but darkness…like Liz's insides were nothing but a hollow cave-and their daughter didn't exist anymore…   
"No, no…" He screamed. He didn't waste anymore time. He placed his hand firmly on Liz's belly. "Liz, look at me."   
At that moment, they connected.   
**_**The first time he ever saw Liz._**   
**_ Seeing her walking through the halls of West Roswell High, before the day he saved her life._**   
**_ The terror they both felt at the exact moment Liz was shot._**   
**_ The exact moment she fell in love with him… looking into his eyes and seeing her own soul- her own heart._**   
**_ The pain they both felt in their time apart._**   
**_ The first time they ever made love._**   
**_ Max sneaking into Liz and Morgan's dorm room when Morgan was away._**   
**_ The night he asked her to marry him._**   
**_ All their lazy afternoons together in bed, away from the rest of the world._**   
**_ Then Tess…and Adam-Michael…and finally…_**   
**_ Their Jordana._**   
**_ He saw Liz walking towards him in a flowing white gown, carrying their sleeping baby in her arms.**_**   
Suddenly, the connection was broken.   
"Liz…" He whispered, looking painfully into her eyes.   
"Max…" She said. He lifted his hand from her hot skin and saw the familiar glowing silver handprint from when he saved her life that day in the Crashdown.   
And the tiny symbol marking Jordana's existence was alive and well again.   
"Oh, God, Max, she's okay! She's ok…" Liz said, flinging herself into Max's arms. He sighed comfortably, showering her with hundreds of tiny kisses all over her. He then turned his attention to her glowing abdomen.   
He planted one sweet kiss on the symbol and smiled into her skin. "I'm always here for you, sweetie…I'm sorry you had to go through that…we love you so much and we will never stop believing in you…"   
Liz smiled through a wash of tears. "Max, thank you…" Liz said. "We would have died…"   
Max looked up at her then, his big brown eyes flowing with seemingly endless tears. "You're going to be all right. Both of you." He hugged her to him like she was going to disappear if he let her go. "Do you want to stay here for a few minutes or do you want me to go ahead and take you home?"   
"Max, you don't have to take me home, you have a big exam in two days, you need to be in class."   
"Liz, that's not important right now!"   
"Getting into med school isn't important?"   
Max paused. "Of course it is, but I choose my priorities. And right now, my family is my first priority."   
Liz smiled up at him. She didn't know what was going to happen to her or the baby, but she knew deep down in her heart that Max would protect both of them, no matter what.   



	3. Default Chapter Title

The Language of Longing, Part 3 of 4   
by Meredith (roswelldreamer@aol.com)   
To the Dreamgirls....   
Keep on believing.

  
  
  


Max held Liz's hand as he drove them home. He thanked God that the day this happened was the day he had taken Michael and Maria to the airport and had driven to school. He didn't think he could stand a long train ride home with her. He wanted to get her home as soon as possible. The ride home was relatively quiet, mostly because Liz was taking a little cat nap and Max was too enraged to speak.   
He gripped the steering wheel tightly as he pondered his options. If Tess was going to continue to endanger the safety and well-being of Liz and their daughter, he was going to have to take matters into his own hands. On the other hand, he could never kill anyone- especially the mother of his first born child, and one of his own kind.   
Then there was the matter of Nasedo or Morgan, or whoever the hell he was now. Max was fairly certain he had gone on to take another human form by now. Max beat himself up for not putting two and two together earlier. After the incident the night Liz found out she was pregnant, and all the things she told him about Morgan's odd behavior, Max should have insisted that they not have contact anymore- just to be on the safe side. But he didn't listen to the side of him saying he was just being paranoid, and that almost cost him is soon-to-be-wife and daughter. He was getting married in like 2 months! They hadn't even begun to plan or do anything for it. He couldn't believe that all this shit with Tess and Nasedo was really happening. And on top of it all, they had finals and graduation in less than 3 weeks!   
Max couldn't take all the pressure and stress anymore. He waited until it was safe and pulled over on the side of the road once they'd reached the neighborhood of Brighton, which was about 10 minutes from home. He put his head on the steering wheel and began sobbing uncontrollably.   
The sound of his sobbing and the feeling of the car's engine switching off startled Liz out of her sleep. She put her hand on his cheek.   
"Sweetheart..." She said, trying her best to calm him down. He looked into her eyes and she saw an emptiness... fear, rage, pain... it scared her. Those eyes did not belong to the eyes of her Max. All this stress was making him change...on the inside too.   
Max began breathing shallow breaths. "Liz..."   
"What..." She said, taking his hands into hers. "Talk to me..."   
"I...I...keep having these...feelings, these strong urges..." Max said, gripping his hands tighter on the steering wheel.   
Liz's eyes grew wider as she listened to the man she loved speaking to her. "...Urges? To do...what?" She asked, her voice cracking with fear.   
"When I saw you lying there, you dying, Jordana...dying..." Max said, choking back sobs. "...I thought only one thing...I wanted to...kill...whoever did this to you. So you would always be safe."   
Liz gasped.   
"I know, I know, it's crazy, and stupid, and awful..."   
"Max, that's not like you... you could _never_...kill...anyone." It made Liz grimaced to even say the word.   
"...but if I don't, she's going to kill you, and she's going to kill Jordana." Max pleaded with her.   
"Max, I know you, maybe even better than you know yourself- and you could never kill anyone, especially the mother of your son." Liz said. "Even if she is a monster."   
"But, Liz..." Max cringed. He was even scaring himself about what he was thinking. He just wanted her dead. Both of them. She **and** Nasedo.   
"Max. There are other ways we can get her out of our lives."   
"Liz, what happens the next time she does this and I'm not there to help you?" Max said, taking her fingers and lacing them with his. "I would never forgive myself if..."   
Liz wiped his cheek with her hand. She placed a gentle hand on his cheek where the tear used to be. "Nothing's going to happen to me. You and I, we're stronger than hate. We're stronger than evil. We're stronger than Tess."   
Max looked into her eyes. He'd never been so scared in his life. He knew he couldn't just sit around and wait for Tess to attack Liz again. There was just too much at stake.   
"Let's go home." Liz said, smiling. "I'd love to take a nap with you in my arms."   
Max tried to smile, but he was terrified. He resolved to call Michael and Isabel when he got home. He needed their help, now more than ever.   
* * * * *   
**_Tess and Adam-Michael's Home_**   
**_Later that afternoon_**

"Mommy, can I watch another video?" Adam-Michael asked his mother, who was pacing in the kitchen, the cordless phone in her hand. Nasedo had just called her to tell her that Liz discovered that she was really Morgan. Nasedo also told Tess that Liz was in noticable pain when he last saw her.   
"Fine, whatever, Adam...just leave Mommy alone, ok? I have some very important business to take care of."   
"Ok, Mommy. I'm sorry." Adam said, frowning. Tess didn't even notice the hurt in her son's eyes as he went back to the VCR and popped in a Barney video. He went back to drawing a picture with crayons. It was of a little boy holding hands with a man. They both had brown eyes and brown hair. There was also another woman in the picture he drew, a woman with long brown hair. She was a lot smaller than the man and was holding the little boy's other hand. Adam drew little red hearts between the hands. Over the stick figure man was the word _"Daddy"_, over the little boy was_ "Adam-Michael"_, and over the woman was _"Daddy's girlfriend"_. He smiled as he drew a sun, and grass, and the horse his mom had promised him and he had never received.   
When it finally dawned on her that her son was hurting, Tess walked over to the living room where he was coloring. Her eyes welled up with tears when she saw the drawing of a girl with long brown hair holding hands with the little boy in the picture. "Adam..." She said, breathlessly.   
"Yes, Mommy."   
"Who is that?" She asked, pointing her finger to the dark-haired woman in the picture. She swallowed in anticipation, knowing exactly what her son would say.   
"That's Daddy's girlfriend. The one holding hands with him at the airport that day. She was nice."   
"Nice, Adam? She barely spoke to you!" Tess said, grabbing the picture from her son. "You are never to speak of her again, do you hear me? She is an evil, evil woman! She is keeping you from your Daddy!"   
Adam's eyes welled with tears. "Mommy, why are you yelling at me?" His bottom lip quivered. "I don't want to live with you anymore. I want to live with my Daddy." He said, turning over his box of crayons and running into his room, slamming the door behind him.   
Tess sat on the floor, clutching her stomach. "Oh, God..." She said. "What have I done? What have I done?" She repeated, sobbing. "Tessa..." She said to herself, pulling her body from the ground. "You have to pull yourself together. Your son loves you, and so does Max. And soon, you will be a family again." She said, smiling. She opened the balled up picture she had been clutching in her hands and took one look at Liz and Max's images. Adam had drawn the two of them with big smiling faces and Liz with a big pregnant belly. How on earth could Adam have known Liz was pregnant? Perhaps there was a connection already between the new baby and Adam? How could he have known he had a sister coming? Tess had to stop this. She would never lose her son to Liz and Max, no matter what she had to do to stop it. 

* * * * * *   
_"A mother understands what a child does not say."- unknown_   
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 

"Michael, I've never been so scared in my whole life." Max said, pacing in the kitchen of their apartment, trying carefully not to wake a resting Liz in the other room. "Not even when Pierce was torturing me in that white room...that doesn't even compare."   
"Maxwell..." Michael said, unconvinced.   
"No, Michael...when I saw Liz lying there, she and our baby...dying...I felt myself dying inside, too. It was Nasedo. He did this to her. He was pretending to be Morgan, he prayed on her Michael...he's dangerous."   
Michael nodded, trying to understand the gravity of what Max was telling him. "He said he'd do anything to protect us...and our destiny...to each other."   
"That's not a good enough excuse anymore, Michael! I'm not going to sit back and wait until he takes Liz and our daughter away from me!" Max said, the blood pumping through his veins like hot fire. "They don't deserve that! If Nasedo wants to kill, let him kill me!"   
"Max, calm down...we're not going to let anything happen to her. Listen, we're almost finished packing up here, and Maria can stay behind here for a few days and close up the place...I'll fly back out there and stay with you guys...I know you need as much power against them as you can get right now."   
"Thanks Michael. But I don't need your help to keep Liz safe. I need you here to hold me back. I've been having these...urges..." Max said, clenching his fists.   
Michael raised his eyebrow. "What...kind of urges?"   
"After seeing Liz hurt like that today, I wanted someone to pay...I wanted someone to suffer as much as Liz and our daughter had to suffer. All I could think about was...killing...Nasedo and Tess." Max said firmly, afraid of himself for what he was proposing. "I just wanted them dead."   
Michael gasped in anger. "Maxwell, how DARE you! They are our family! Tess is my sister, for God's sake! I'll kill YOU if you lay a finger on her!"   
Max paused. "She's killing my baby! She's killing Liz!"   
"Liz is more important than your family? Your blood? Your people?" Michael screamed at him.   
"Liz IS my family! Tess means nothing to me! She's done nothing but deceive and trick me since the day we met! She kept my son from me for five years!" Max screamed. "What is wrong with you Michael? Liz is the best thing that ever happened to me, and you've NEVER been able to accept her!"   
"I don't have anything against Liz, Maxwell. I don't want her to die...but I think you need to get your priorities in order, that's all."   
"She's two months away from being my wife! She's carrying my daughter! Liz, Jordana, and Adam-Michael! They are my first priority, they are my family! I have to save them, I have to have them here with me, safe...they'll never be safe with her around..." Max said, beginning to quietly sob. "Never..."   
"Maxwell, I know you want to spend more time with Adam-Michael. But are you really willing to end the lives of Nasedo, who helped save your ass all those years ago when you were being tortured by Pierce, and Tess, who you used to care about, used to be involved with, and is Adam's MOTHER? Do you really think he would ever forgive you for killing the only parent he's ever known?" Michael cried. "You really have a problem, man."   
Max paused. "I'm...sorry, Michael. I know Tess and Nasedo are important to you. But I'm trying to make you see that Liz and my children are the MOST important things in the world to me. And if you want to come out here, that's fine, go ahead. But don't think you can stop me. If Nasedo or Tess do ANYTHING at all to endanger Liz and Jordana's lives, I WILL be forced to do something...drastic."   
"Max, are you even stopping to consider what you would be losing by killing them? Nasedo was sent here as our guardian. What happens if anyone tries to hurt us again? Like the FBI? Torture? That white room they locked you in? Alien hunters? Do those ring a bell?" He paused to catch his breath. "And what makes you think you can even kill Nasedo? If you kill him, we'll just find him and use those crystals we used to save his life the last time, and you'll just be back to square one again..."   
"Wrong, Michael...that's where you're wrong. Those crystals require all four of our energies combined. You, Isabel, Tess, and I. And I'll tell you one thing, I will never do it. Never. And Isabel would never betray me, or Liz." Max said, firmly. He walked over to the refridgerator and smiled at the picture they'd received from Isabel and Alex announcing Michaela's birth. The two of them were cuddling with their newborn and they looked so happy. Max longed for that to be he and Liz, holding Jordana. It made him sick to think that it may never happen for them. They may never be able to hold their baby in their arms and tell her how much she's loved.   
Michael sighed. He knew Max wasn't going to back down from this crusade of his. And he didn't want to see Max hurt, that was the last thing he could ever want. He knew there was no use in trying to get through to him. He was just going to have to try to stop him from doing something that would tear them all apart. 

_****"The daughter never gives up on the mother, just as the mother never gives up on the daughter. There is a tie here so strong that nothing can break it. I called it 'the unbreakable bond'".- Rachel Billington****_

In the other room, Liz was barely asleep and was listening intently to what Max was saying to Michael on the phone. She felt torn on the inside. She was relieved to have him standing up for her against his own people, but she was becoming more and more terrified at what he was becoming- he was actually thinking about taking a life. She hated Nasedo, and she hated Tess even more, but she would never want to see them killed by Max. She wanted their baby girl to be able to look up to her father as a brave, loving, caring, honorable man. A man who keeps his promises, respects others, and would never endanger anyone.   
_*What was happening to him? *_   
She rolled over on her side, her growing belly propped up with pillows for extra comfort during the night. The warm tears swelled in her eyes as the screaming in the other room intensified. She tried in vain to keep from sobbing herself to sleep, but she couldn't contain the pent-up emotion she was feeling.   
"God, I'm so confused." She whispered, looking up to the heavens. "Lord, tell me what to do..." She placed a single protective hand on her belly, which donned the intriguing glowing symbol that comforted her to no end. "Goodnight, baby girl. I love you so much." She said, smiling through tears and kissing her palm, then returning it back to rest on her stomach.   
**_ ****After a few minutes, she had drifted off to sleep. Her dream started out so peacefully-it was different from the beach scene that terrified her so much. This time, it was from her point of view. She was walking down the aisle, her father's arm linked with her own. She could fill her eyes brimming with tears of joy as she looked on both sides of the aisle and saw her friends and family members looking at her with ecstatic faces._**   
**_ Her heart skipped a beat when she saw Max standing at the altar, waiting for her to join him. His soulful brown eyes matched her own in that they were filling quickly with warm tears. She smiled at him then, but he just couldn't do anything but stare at her immense beauty. She looked to Max's left and saw Michael, the person he always considered to be his brother, standing strong beside him as his Best Man. Alex was smiling sweetly at her, as Max's usher. He winked at her. Liz smiled back at him. Liz looked to her left and her heart filled with love._**   
**_ It was her best friend Maria as her maid of honor in a beautiful satin lavender wedding gown, with Isabel smiling at her side. Liz loved Maria and Isabel like her own sisters, but the sight of the beautiful baby girl in Maria's arms took Liz's breath away._**   
**_ Liz didn't have to be introduced to this baby, she knew for certain deep in her heart that the baby was Jordana. She was wearing a white lace dress with a white satin headband on her tiny head filled with short, dark brown hair. Liz wanted to reach out and hold her so badly, she felt this aching in her heart. But she knew what she had to do first. She looked back at Max with love and pride, and took his hand._**   
**_ The moment they joined hands, the scene changed._**   
**_ She was sitting in a dark, cold room. Her hands and feet were bound together and she could feel something covering her mouth. She tried to scream out but no one was coming to her rescue. Tears of terror poured from her face, which was contorted wildly from crying so hard and so long. She looked to her right and saw Jordana crying in a crib. She was about a year old, because she was able to stand up in her crib. She held out her tiny arms and screamed for Liz to pick her up. Liz's heart broke over and over as her daughter's cries grew louder and more forceful. Then she heard voices over to her left. They were hard to make out but then grew more distinct._**   
**_ Tess and Morgan/Nasedo were walking towards her with big grins on their faces._**   
**_ "Liz, I told you. I always get what I want." Tess said, walking over to Jordana's crib, picked her up, and kissed her head softly. She immediately stopped crying. Liz glared at Tess in anger and tried to scream out, but she couldn't._**   
**_ Morgan/Nasedo smiled at Liz. "Oh, isn't that sweet?" She said, smiling devilishly. "You're probably wondering what I did with the REAL Morgan, huh? Your best friend? Well, I'm sorry to be the one to have to tell you this...but she's dead, Lizzie. Yup, I killed her."_**   
**_ Liz gasped and she felt her heart break all over again. She shook her head and tried to mutter the words "No...NO!"_**   
**_ "Yup, and unfortunately, it was pretty painful for her. I heated up her body to a temperature exceeding 185 degrees farenheit, basically melting her." Nasedo chuckled. "At least it was quick."_**   
**_ Liz felt like she was going to throw up. She didn't know what was worse- the fact that Nasedo tortured and murdered her best friend or watching Tess comfort a crying Jordana._**   
**_ Nasedo pulled a needle out of his jacket pocket. He smiled as he examined it. "Sodium chloride..." He began, wickedly. "It's what Dr. Kevorkian gives to those dying cancer patients. It's a virtually painless death...I'm going to inject this into your bloodstream and within moments, you will feel a tingling start in your arm and travel to your other extremities, finally creeping into your midsection and your vital organs. Then you will...peacefully...drift off to sleep..." He smiled at Liz. "Our leader did love you for a long time, Elizabeth. So we decided that you deserved a more...painless...death than the one your friend suffered through." He ripped off the gag from Liz's mouth and she screamed out as loud as she could, trying to wiggle around in the chair she was bound to._**   
**_ "Please...don't!" She felt herself scream out. Tess started to leave the room with Jordana, flashing Liz a look of almost sincere apology. "Tess! No! Don't leave! Don't take her away from me! Jordana, baby, I love you! Mommy loves you so much!" She cried out. Nasedo got closer and closer with the needle.*****_**

"NO!" Liz screamed, sitting up in her bed in a cold sweat. Max jumped up out of bed as well when he felt her distress. "No! Oh God!"   
"Liz, Liz, sweetie..." He cried, grabbing her and holding her tightly to his body. They laid back and she held on to him so tightly that her fingernails left white marks in his skin. He smoothed her head with his hand and tried to calm her cries with a kiss on her forehead.   
"Max, it was just, so awful...I can't...I can't talk..." She said, breaking into fierce sobs.   
Max knew she had another nightmare and he lifted up her nightgown to see if the symbol had stopped glowing. It was as bright as ever. He sighed with some relief but was still distressed to know his lover was hurting. "Just relax." He said, shushing her. She shut her eyes slowly. He put his hand to her belly and was immediately flooded with images of a wedding, and then the horrific nightmare of Liz being held by Tess and Nasedo against her will. When the flashes ended, he looked up into her eyes. "Oh, God, baby..." He said, his own eyes filling with tears of pain and rage. "I am so sorry...I'm so sorry you had to suffer through that...God, it's all my fault..." He pushed his face into her stomach, kissing the symbol and the surrounding skin. "It should have been me..."   
"Max, stop that." She said, lifting his chin to meet her own loving gaze. "Stop blaming yourself. We're in this together, remember. We're not going to let anything happen to Jordana."   
"What about you, Liz? If I lost you..." He began, shuddering.   
"Max, you're not going to lose me." Liz said. "We're going to graduate, get married, have Jordana, and live happily ever after, okay? Tess probably sent me that nightmare in my brain to try and scare me."   
"She can communicate with you?"   
"I don't know...lately I've been feeling her presence inside me somehow...like her breaking into my subconscious...getting me to have this nightmares...these doubts...trying to reject our baby. I'm not going to let her."   
Max took her hands in his own and pleaded with her. "You have to fight it. You have to, Liz. Do you hear that?"   
Liz smiled. "I'm as strong as I can be, I have you to support me, to protect me. When I'm with you, I feel invincible."   
"That's just it, Liz...I can't be there to protect you all the time. I can't make sure that Tess and Nasedo are away from you- not if they're breaking in to your mind like that..." He pleaded, shaking his head at what he just said. "I can only protect you by..."   
"No, Max, no. I'm not going to let you kill them. You are the most wonderful man I've ever known, and will ever know. I'm not going to let you kill two of your own kind just so I can sleep better at night." Liz said, shaking her head.   
Max paused. "I know, I know it's wrong, Liz. But how right is it for them to target you like this?"   
"It's not right, it will never be right, Max. But there are other ways we can protect ourselves."   
"Like what? Run from them? They'll find us." Max said, sighing.   
"Max, we don't have to run. We need to stand up and fight them. We need to take back our lives. You, Michael, Isabel, Alex, Maria and I...we need to combine our energies, our lives, our souls, our minds...we CAN defeat them. Just like we saved Michael's life all those years ago, the six of us can save me. We can save this baby." Liz said, holding his hands and kissing them. "The six of us, we can do anything, as long as we're together."   
Max gently placed his hand on the side of her face. He couldn't believe how wonderful she was. She turned her head and kissed his open palm. "Liz...I love you."   
She smiled. "I love you, Max." They shared one of those deep open kisses that looked far into each other's souls. All the pain and anger from the dream Liz had seemed to slip away as Max moved his hands further down her body, caressing every inch of her hot skin. The longing they felt for each other was consuming them both. Neither said a word, passion was taking over and language was just a fading memory. She wrapped her long, slim legs around his back as they continued their seemingly endless stream of soul-stroking, sensual kisses. He broked away from her lips and traveled down to her neck, finally resting his lips on her waiting breasts. She grabbed the back of his head with her hands, pushing her body as close to his as possible. After a few moments of ecstasy, she felt a sudden burst of empowerment and flipped his body over so she was on top of him. She began to deliver to him the same pleasure she had just received. He couldn't speak, his head swam with so many thoughts, but the biggest one being just complete awe- how did he ever find this perfect creature? He couldn't imagine his life without her in it. And at that moment he knew that he would do everything in his power to protect her existence on this planet.   
Even if he had to kill.   


_"I'll stand in the gap for my son._   
_I'll stand till the victory's won._   
_This one thing I know, that you love him so,_   
_And your work with my child is not done._

_I'll never give up on that boy._   
_Nor will you, for you promised him joy._   
_For I know it was true_   
_When he said "yes" to you,_   
_Though the enemy seeks to destroy._

_And so in the gap I will stand,_   
_Heeding your every command._   
_With help from above,_   
_I unconditionally love,_   
_And soon he will reach for your hand."_   
_-Shirley Pope Waite_   
_-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------_

It was less than a week later, and the sun finally shone again in the city of Boston. Max and Liz had decided to go to the Public Garden downtown and have a picnic to study for finals and to celebrate having a "good week". Since the night Liz had the horrific nightmare in which Nasedo killed her, neither she nor Max had had any visions or dreams involving Nasedo, Tess, or death in general. Liz was feeling energetic and happy, and Jordana seemed to be developing nicely. Liz's belly had already grown a considerable amount in just one week, and she had begun to feel Jordana moving around inside her.   
She and Max were eating their sandwiches and watching the people go by. Liz laid on her back, suddenly feeling a little sleepy and wanting to get some well- deserved shut eye. With finals just two weeks away, they were both feeling the pressure of studying and work, on top of the ever-present wedding plans and feeling of imminent disaster looming over their heads at all times. Max looked up from his anatomy text book and chuckled.   
"Lying down on the job already, short stuff?" He asked her, playfully throwing a pretzel stick at her arm.   
"Oh, bite me, Evans. You don't have this little person moving inside you all the time, keeping you up all night." She said, turning her head to face him and smiling at him.   
"Oh, boo-hoo." Max said. "You want me to quiz you on your chem stuff again?"   
"Are you kidding me? I have that stuff down cold." Liz replied, laughing.   
"Oh, really? I guess we can't all be as smart as Miss Elizabeth Marie Parker..." Max teased, shifting his body closer to hers. "...Soon to be Evans." He added proudly.   
"Well, Mr. Maxwell Phillip Evans, we've always known that I'm the brains in this operation." She chuckled slyly, teasing him.   
He smiled, sighing. "Yeah..." He leaned in to whisper into her ear. "And we've always known I'm the alien in this operation." He nibbled on her earlobe and she smiled.   
"Max!" She cried.   
He laughed. "Wow, you're really getting sensitive...I like this pregnancy stuff!" He said, returning to her earlobe.   
"No, it's not that..." She said, laughing. "Not that it isn't...quite lovely..." They looked at each other lovingly and shared a kiss. "It's just...she's moving! The baby!" She grabbed Max's hand and placed it on her belly.   
Max smiled, in awe of the feeling. They didn't ever have to wonder anymore if Jordana was all right- she was making her presence felt. He was elated. He'd never felt so relieved in his life.   
"She's amazing..." Max began, looking into Liz's eyes.   
"Well, she gets it from her mom." Liz replied, smiling and sticking her tongue out at Max. He leaned in and kissed her. Max was angered to see visions of Tess and Adam-Michael invade his brain while kissing Liz. He broke back from her quickly and Liz saw that something was wrong. "Honey?" She said, her voice wavering. "What is it...What did you see?"   
"Tess is here. I can feel it." He said, frantically grabbing her hand and standing the two of them up from the blanket. They craned their heads around, looking through the large crowds of people, trying to find any sign of Tess, Naesdo, or Adam-Michael.   
"D-do do you see her?" Liz asked, terrified.   
Max didn't hear her ask the question... he had found what he was looking for. Not even 100 yards from where they were sitting, he spotted Tess and their son standing beside a bench. They were both smiling and laughing. Tess was teaching him how to fly a kite. Max's heart sank. He wanted so badly for Adam-Michael to be with him-to be able to share simple moments like that with his son. His first born. "Liz, you stay here. I'm going to go talk to her." He began to walk away, but she grabbed his arm and looked frantically in his eyes.   
"Max, don't leave me here alone. What if...Nasedo's nearby or something?" Liz said, knowing that her paranoia sounded ridiculous outloud but it was something that needed to be said.   
Max leaned down and kissed her forehead.   
"I'm sorry, angel. How could I have been so stupid? Come with me." He said, pulling her towards him. They walked slowly over to Tess and Adam with their arms around each other's waists, holding onto each other for support. When they were within 20 feet of them, Tess looked over to Max and smiled. She leaned over to Adam-Michael, who was too busy playing with his kite to notice his dad was standing before him.   
"Adam...there's your Daddy." Tess said, kissing his head. Adam dropped the kite and smiled.   
"Daddy!" He screamed, running over to Max and Liz. He ran into Max's arms and hugged him close. Liz and Tess looked at the two of them in awe, neither of them expecting for Adam to accept his father, who was a virtual stranger to him, so quickly. Max picked him up and held him in his arms, spinning him around. He pulled Adam's face away from his neck so he could look into his son's eyes. Tess looked over at Liz to try to give her a look that said "look, he belongs to me now." but she wasn't paying attention. She was too busy looking at how well Max interacted with this child he barely even knew.   
"Hey, pal." He said, smiling. "I've missed you."   
"I missed you too, Daddy. Mommy taught me how to fly a kite! Look I'll show you! I can do it all by myself!"   
"Okay!" Max said, smiling. He put Adam-Michael back on the ground and he grabbed the kite.   
"Now, remember to get a running start, Adam!" Tess said to him as he picked the small red kite up from the grass.   
"I know, Mommy, I can do it myself!" Adam said, beginning to run from them with the kite flying high above them.   
"Adam, honey, don't run too far, okay? Stay where Mommy can see you!" Tess cried. She looked over at Max when Adam was out of earshot. "He really is a wonderful child. He's so well behaved."   
Max grabbed Liz's hand. "Well, Tess, you've done an excellent job raising him."   
Tess smiled. "Thank you, Max. It's been hard...being...alone." She wrapped her arms around herself. "But I suppose I have a few friends I can always count on...when I need them." She glared at Liz.   
"Oh, like the one you tried to get to kill me those couple of times? Real great friends, Tess." Liz said, glaring right back at her. Max squeezed her hand tighter and Tess laughed.   
"Liz, I don' t have the foggiest idea of what you're referring to! If someone's threatened your life or the life of your precious little baby, it hasn't been my fault..." Tess said, keeping her distance.   
"We didn't come here to fight with you, Tess. We just wanted to say 'Hi' to Adam." Max said, trying to keep the peace between them. He felt torn in a way. He hated Tess as a person, but she would always be Adam's mother.   
"Max, I told you that you're welcome to spend time with him. Just as long as your little whore isn't around." Tess said, smirking at Liz. Liz lunged for her but Max held her back.   
"Tessa, Liz is going to be my wife in less than two months. She's the mother of my child. You better start respecting her or you will have no relationship with me whatsoever- not even as my friend."   
"But you want to see Adam-Michael don't you?" Tess said. "He's been asking about you so much, Max...he misses you...he wants you to come live with us..." She said, walking over to him and putting her hand on his muscular shoulder. She rubbed her fingers down his chest seductively. Liz reached over with her free hand and smacked her across the face. "You BITCH!" Tess screamed. She raised her hand to smack Liz but Max grabbed her arm and twisted it.   
"Now, Tess, that's not going to get you anywhere, is it?" Max asked her.   
Liz lunged at her again. "Keep your hands off my husband."   
Tess laughed. "He's not your husband...yet." She said ominously. She quickly put her hand to Liz's growing belly. "It would be a shame if something happened to that beautiful baby, now wouldn't it? What a tragedy." Max pushed her away from Liz.   
"Don't EVER touch her." Max said. "Do you hear me Tessa? NEVER!" He screamed, grabbing her wrists and shaking them.   
Adam ran over to them. Tess and Max quickly let go of each other and stood in front of their child, ashamed. Adam looked up at his mom. "Mommy, I need to tell you something." Adam said. Tess squatted down in front of him, fearing the worst.   
"What, honey?" She asked him, smiling sweetly.   
"Please don't hurt my baby sister." He said quietly.   
Liz sank to the ground in shock. Max gasped as he felt tears come to his eyes. He put his arms around Liz and they both sat there in shock. Adam walked over to them and hugged the two of them. He put his hand on Liz's belly and rubbed it.   
"Hi, Jordana...I'm your brother. I love you." He said, kissing her belly.   
Liz smiled and began crying. She couldn't believe what she was hearing.   
"How do you know her name, Adam?" Liz asked, looking into Adam's eyes.   
"I see her in my dreams. She dances with me. We play at the beach and build sandcastles. Me, you, Daddy, and Jordana." He said, smiling. Liz and Max looked at each other with wonder.   
"Well, after your sister is born, we'll take you to the beach someday. Would you like that, buddy?" Max asked his son.   
"Yeah, Daddy. That would be so much fun!" Adam replied, his face lighting up with excitement.   
Tess bit her lip, vowing not to let Liz or Max see how upset she was. Her eyes threatened to spill over with tears, but she suppressed them.   
"Max, how does he...?" Liz asked him, smiling through tears of happiness.   
"I'm not sure," Max said, smiling back at her. "Maybe because he and the baby are both...you know..."   
"They have some sort of connection...maybe that's why she's been kicking so much since we've been at the park..." Liz began, rubbing her belly.   
"...Cause she knew her big brother was nearby." Max said, smiling. "That's so cool..."   
Tess grabbed Adam-Michael into her arms. "As fun as this little reunion has been, we really have to go now. Come on, honey."   
"No, Mommy, I want to stay with Daddy and Lizzie!" Adam screamed, punching his fists into Tess's chest.   
"No, Adam, you can't!" Tess screamed.   
"PUT ME DOWN!" Adam-Michael screamed. He put his hand up to her chest and an inexplicable force pushed her onto the ground, releasing him from her grip. He ran over to Max and clung to his legs.   
"Oh my God..." Liz whispered, covering her mouth with her hands. Tess was still sitting on the ground, in awe of what had just happened.   
**_Her son was turning against her._**   
"No..." Tess said, shaking her head and screaming. "No, no!" She raised her hands and looked like she was about to snap.   
Max knew something awful was about to happen. He turned to Liz and screamed at her. "RUN! Run, Liz!" Liz didn't waste any time. She ran quickly back towards their blanket and Max picked up Adam-Michael, running back towards Tess. She fell into his arms, sobbing uncontrollably.   
"Take him! Just take him!" Tess said. "He doesn't want me anymore! He doesn't love me! No one loves me, no one cares!"   
Max sighed. Adam-Michael rested his head on his dad's shoulder and he put his arm around Tess. "Tess...that's not true." He said, biting his lip. He was lying through his teeth.   
"Yes it is. You were my destiny, Max, and you rejected me. MY DESTINY. My reason for living! Now you're gone...forever! Why am I still here? I've failed to live up to my duty- the reason why I was created!" Tess screamed at the top of her lungs.   
"Tess, look...just because I don't love you anymore doesn't mean you didn't live up to your duty...I chose my destiny. My destiny is with Liz, it always has been." Max said. "And you're a fool if you think you're going to stand in the way of it."   
"A fool, Max?" She asked, looking into his eyes and wiping her tears away. "We'll see. We'll see how happy you are when Liz is gone."   
Max's eyes widened in fear. "Gone?"   
"That's right. Gone."   
"Tess, if you touch her, so help me..."   
"You'll do what, Max? Kill me? Go ahead! I don't care! You'll be putting me out of my misery!" She looked at her son and began crying again. "Goodbye, my precious little boy. I love you so much." She kissed his hand. He was too young to understand what was happening so he just looked away from her. This brought on a new wave of torment to Tess's already broken soul.   
She looked up at Max. "I'll be over in a few days with his things. Goodbye, Max." She planted a warm kiss on Max's unresponsive lips.   
Max watched her walk away and the sky began to cloud up. He and Adam-Michael looked up to the sky.   
"Daddy, we better get home...a storm's coming." He said.   
Max looked into his son's eyes then looked at the image of Tess walking away from them. He knew then that it wasn't over.   
Tess had nothing left to lose- she wanted to die. She was capable of anything...even cold-blooded murder.   
Liz and Jordana were far from safe.   
The war was just beginning.   
***** 

"You have heard that it was said, 'Eye for eye, and tooth for tooth'. But I tell you, Do not resist an evil person. If someone strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also."- Matthew 5:38-39   
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------   
ONE WEEK LATER- LIZ AND MAX'S PLACE   
BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

"Isabel, I can't tell you how wonderful it is to have you here with us." Liz said, sitting on the couch enjoying a late-night snack of ice cream with her best friend Maria and soon-to-be-sister-in-law, Isabel. It had been a week since Adam-Michael had come to live with she and Max, and Maria and Michael were slowly but surely moving into their new place in Boston. After Max called Isabel to let her know about the major problems they'd been having with Tess and how they feared for Liz and Jordana's lives, Isabel and Alex dropped everything in New Mexico, and brought Michaela out to Boston to be with them.   
"Alex and I weren't going to stand by and let Tess hurt you guys like this. Besides, I've loved getting to know my sweet little nephew." Isabel said, smiling. She really had changed her once cold and invincible demeanor in the past few years. Being a mother and a wife has made her realize that she is loved, and she can let people into her life without getting hurt.   
"He really is adorable, isn't he?" Liz asked, smiling. Maria dug in for another scoop.   
"Yeah...he really is, great, Liz. How DID he ever come from the Wicked Witch of the West?" Maria replied.   
"One of the great mysteries of the world..." Isabel began. "God, I always knew Tess was selfish...but I had no idea she was so inately...evil!"   
"When she came back, I thought she was just going after Max again...I wasn't worried, I knew Max would never leave me for her...but then Adam-Michael showed up, and I found out I was pregnant...and all these awful things kept happening...it's like I'm living a nightmare."   
"We're not going to let that twisted chick win, Lizzie, don't you worry." Maria said, gulping down a heap of cookie dough ice cream, a favorite of all three women. Isabel, naturally, enjoyed hers with a splash of Tabasco sauce.   
Just then, Adam-Michael toddled in to the kitchen, clutching a teddy bear his mother had left for him. It was his favorite and he couldn't sleep without it.   
"Lizzie?" He asked, walking over to her and hugging her.   
"What's the matter, hon? I'm sorry, are we being too noisy?" Liz asked him, kissing the top of his head covered with shiny black hair.   
"No, I had a bad dream." He said, his eyes red with tears.   
Liz kneeled down to his eye level. "Do you want to talk about it?"   
Adam nodded a "yes". Liz put down her spoon and grabbed Adam's tiny hand, leading him to the kitchen table and helping him climb up into the chair. Isabel walked over to the refrigerator and grabbed some milk, placing it on the counter.   
"Adam, sweetie, would you like some warm milk? When your Daddy and I had bad dreams when we were little, Grandma fixed us warm milk and it always made us feel better." Isabel asked him. Adam nodded another "yes". From his facial expressions, he seemed to be a mix of tired and terrified.   
"Adam, can you tell me about your dream?" Liz asked him. He looked up into her eyes, and they began to fill with tears again.   
"It was scary," Adam said, crawling out of his chair and into Liz's arms. Jordana crowded most of Liz's lap but he had managed to find a spot to sit on.   
"Was Jordana there?" Liz asked.   
"Yeah..." Adam said. Maria and Isabel walked over to him with the cup of warm milk. Maria looked at him and frowned.   
"Adam, honey, you don't have to tell us about it if you don't want to..." Maria began.   
"But I want to tell you...Mommy was hurting the baby." Adam said. "She hurt the baby, then she hurt Lizzie."   
Liz, Maria and Isabel gasped. Liz buried her face in Adam-Michael's sweet-smelling black hair. Her own eyes filled with tears and dampened the black hair surrounding her face.   
Adam continued. "And I was there and I tried to get Mommy to stop it. I was yelling at her 'Stop it Mommy! Stop hurting them!' But she wouldn't stop. It's all my fault. I couldn't stop her."   
"Adam, sweetie, no. It's not your fault... and I'm fine! Your sister's fine, we're both fine. Nothing's going to happen to us, okay buddy?" Liz said to him while wiping the tears of fear from her own eyes. "She's been moving a lot tonight. She wants to come out and play with you, Adam."   
Adam put his hand on Liz's belly. He smiled and drew his hand back in surprise when he felt the baby move. "When's she going to be here with us, Lizzie?"   
Liz looked up to Isabel and Maria and grinned. "We're not completely sure about that one, pal. But when we find out, you'll be the first to know."   
Adam smiled. "Okay."   
The ladies and Adam-Michael turned their head to the doorway when they heard footsteps come into the kitchen.   
"Hey, how come I wasn't invited to this party, huh?" Max asked, his eyes sealed tight with sleep and his hair mussed. Adam smiled and ran into his arms. Max picked him up and held him tight to his neck. "Hey, pal. What are you doing up? Are these ladies being too loud in here with all their yapping?"   
"I had a bad dream, Daddy." Adam said, pulling his head back from Max's chest and looking into his eyes. Max stole a glance at Liz and she nodded. Max knew then that the dream had been about Tess and the baby.   
"It was just a dream, Adam. Nothing's going to happen to Lizzie or your sister, ok?" Max said, looking into his son's eyes with concern.   
Adam just nodded quietly. "Mommy...she scares me sometimes."   
"Adam, your Mommy would never hurt you..." Max said, putting his son back down on the kitchen floor and kneeling down to his eye level.   
"I know." Adam said. He yawned.   
"You want me to tuck you in, sweetie?" Liz asked him, walking over to the little boy and taking his hand. Adam nodded.   
"Goodnight, Adam." Maria said, waving to him.   
"Goodnight, sweetheart." Isabel said, blowing him a kiss. "We love you."   
"I love you, too, Aunt Izzy." Adam said as Liz and Max escorted the young prince back into their bedroom.   
"God, I pity that poor child for having Tess as a mother." Maria said, shaking her head.   
"But at least he has Max and Liz." Isabel said, yawning.   
"For his sake." Maria added in. "I guess I better go, since everyone seems to be turning in..."   
"Yeah, I'm sure Michael's wondering if you're ever coming home!" Isabel said, smiling.   
"Well, I like to make him wait." Maria said, winking. She grabbed her car keys and hugged Isabel. "Goodnight, girl. Tell Liz I'll call her tomorrow."   
"Okay. Goodnight." Isabel said, walking into the guest room and shutting the door behind her. She smiled at what she found.   
Michaela had fallen asleep in Alex's arms again.   
It made a cute picture but it really wasn't safe and Isabel was very protective of her baby girl. She carefully and quietly pried the baby from Alex's embrace and placed her into the small portable crib next to their bed. She kissed her and rubbed her back until the baby was back to sleep once again. She then crawled back into bed with Alex and wrapped her arms around his back, nuzzling her face into his neck.   
"Mmmm..." Alex said, turning around to face her. "Where were you...I missed you..."   
Isabel smiled and kissed his cheek. "Just girl talk..."   
"You really missed them, didn't you?" Alex asked her, smiling.   
"Yeah...I really did. I mean, they're my family. They're our family. It's the six of us again, the way it always should have been." Isabel said, playing with his dark hair. Alex looked like he was in a far off place. "What are you thinking about?"   
"Well...what if...we moved out here?" Alex asked.   
Isabel's eyes lit up. "Can we do that?"   
"Why not? I mean, I can put in for a transfer at work...the world headquarters of the record company is Boston, after all..."   
Isabel gave him a slow, sweet kiss. "You are the greatest..."   
"No, you are...I still pinch myself everyday when I wake up...I can't believe you're my wife. How did I get so lucky?" Alex said.   
"Well, I did kind of just...fall out of the sky..." Isabel said, snuggling up closer to him.   
Alex smiled, kissing her earlobe. "I love you, Mrs. Whitman."   
"I love you, too, Mr. Whitman."   
* * * * 

It was the last day of finals week, and Liz had just finished her very last final exam before graduation. Unfortunately, she'd been too worn out to celebrate, so she had returned back home to take a little nap before work.   
She turned her key in the door and opened it slowly, taking in her relief and joy that she was done with school- at least for a while. She had been accepted to Boston University's medical school, but had deferred admission a semester to have Jordana. She kicked off her shoes and dropped her bookbag on the floor in the living room. She grabbed a bottle of water out of the fridge and gulped it down quickly, falling into bed. She was even too tired to turn on General Hospital. She just pulled herself into the covers and sighed.   
The apartment was serene, quiet. It was almost eerie. Ever since Adam-Michael had come to live with them, and Isabel and Alex and the baby came to visit for a while, they had been living in a quasi-zoo. People always coming in and out. The apartment was full of life, love.   
Until today. There was something really off about the place. It shook Liz out of her peaceful slumber.   
She sat up in bed, her body trembling. She knew something was wrong. Was it Adam? No, Maria and Michael had him for the day so Liz and Max could take their finals. Isabel and Alex had taken Michaela over to Maria and Michael's and they were all taking the kids to the downtown Children's Museum for the day.   
If everyone was accounted for, what could it be?   
Liz laid back in her bed and pulled the covers tight around her neck. She looked over at the clock on the nightstand.   
2:44. Only an hour until Max should be back from his exam.   
"Only an hour." Liz thought. "Sixty minutes. I can handle it."   
* * * * 

"Honey! I'm finished! We're all finished! I got..." Max said, clutching a dozen roses and a bottle of non-alcoholic sparkling cider. He opened up the door, surprised to see it was unlocked. He walked into the hallway in the front of the apartment, feeling an immediate sense of panic.   
Something was definitely wrong.   
"Liz? Lizzie?" He asked, throwing his bookbag and his presents for her on the kitchen table and sprinting into their bedroom.   
The bed had been made, and the TV was still on. A half-empty bottle of spring water was sitting on the dresser. Max frantically ran into the bathroom. "Liz? Liz?" He cried. The bathroom looked untouched. Everything was in its place. Nothing unusual. He walked back into the kitchen and slumped against the counter. Liz was supposed to be home now. Had she gone to run errands? It wasn't like her to leave without at least leaving him a note or something. He took another step towards the kitchen table and heard a crunching noise beneath his shoes.   
He looked down to find that he had stepped in a pile of broken glass. Someone had broken a dish and not cleaned it up. Now he KNEW something was wrong. Liz was a total neat freak. If she had broken this plate, she would have cleaned it up immediately. He bent down to the pieces and picked one up with his right hand.   
Suddenly, he got a flash. 

**_Liz making a sandwich and singing to some music coming from the bedroom._**   
**_ "Oh, oh, you've got the best of my love, oh oh..." She was singing an old 70's song. She placed her free hand on her belly as she piled small pieces of turkey onto the two slices of bread lying on the plate. "Hey, baby girl, I know you're hungry. I've got your favorite coming right up..." She said, smiling._**   
**_ Then there was a scream, and the plate was knocked to the floor._**   
**_ A strange man had come up behind Liz, holding a knife to her throat and a knife to her belly._**   
**_ "Come with me, little girl." He whispered in her ear. "Don't make a sound, or Jordana will die."_**   
**_ Liz's eyes lit up in terror as the man tied her wrists together, throwing her on to the cold kitchen floor, then bounding her ankles together. He grabbed a roll of duct tape from a bag he had slung over his shoulder and put a large piece over her mouth. Liz's eyes were spilling over with angry tears. She couldn't struggle or he would slice her open, she just knew it._**   
**_ "Max. Help. Max." She called out to him in her mind, hoping he would somehow know she was in trouble._**   
**_ She looked up above her to the cold white ceiling. Her vision was blocked by the image of tight blonde curls cascading down her face. Then a cold hand on her cheek, then a warm kiss on the forehead. "My darling, Liz."_**   
**_ Liz squirmed around in fear._**   
**_ "Liz, there's nothing to be afraid of. It will all be over quickly, I promise." Tess said sweetly as Liz continued to squirm._**   
**_ "Ok, everything's ready. Grab her arms and I'll grab her ankles." The man said, picking up Liz's ankles from the cold floor. Tess complied with her partner's orders and they gingerly lead her out into the hallway of the apartment building._**   
**_ Their across the hall neighbor had just walked out of her apartment carrying a large bag filled with garbage. Tess panicked but quickly sprang into action. She sent a message to the woman's brain, making her see an image of Tess and the man carrying large bags of garbage out of Liz and Max's apartment, not Liz's squirming, pregnant body._**   
**_ The woman smiled and waved at them. "Are you friends of Liz and Max?"_**   
**_ "Yes, we're their best friends." Tess said._**   
**_ "Can't talk now, lots of things to do..." The man said._**   
**_ "Okay," The woman said smiling, in a daze._**   
**_ By the time the woman's vision was over, Tess and the man had already left with Liz._**

"No! God NO!" Max screamed, sinking to the floor, clutching the piece of the broken plate. "Not Liz- don't take my baby, no, God, please!" He screamed, broken and sobbing. He immediately got another flash. 

**_It was dark, except for a bright light coming from over in her right visual field._**   
**_ Another image of Tess smiling over Liz._**   
**_ Then a rip and a scream._**   
**_ "WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS TO ME?" Liz screamed once Tess had removed the tape from her mouth. "You're NOT going to win! Max doesn't love you! And if you do this, Max is only going to kill you!" She tried in vain to release the ropes bounding her to a cold steel chair._**   
**_ Tess chuckled at Liz. "Oh, sweetie, you can have him. I just want payback."_**   
**_ "What have I ever done to you...that you didn't bring on yourself?" Liz asked her._**   
**_ Tess was shocked. She slapped her across the face and tears of frustration filled Liz's big brown eyes. "How dare you even suggest... You TOOK my SON away from ME! You just wait and see how empty you feel when I take your baby away from you...your child...your first born...your only reason for living, breathing..." Tess said, rubbing her fingers across Liz's stomach._**

**_Liz's eyes brimmed over with tears._**   
**_ Her bottom lip quivered._**   
**_ "Do what you want to me. Just don't hurt...her." She said firmly._**

"Where, where did she take..." Max said, pulling himself off the floor and lightening. His language abilities were breaking down as panic set in. He sank back deep into his subconscious...trying to pull out a clue from the vision he had. 

**_A picture of Owen. There's a picture of Owen._**   
**_ There's a picture hanging on the wall._**   
**_ I'm at Morgan's, I'm at Morgan's..._**

The voices rushed through his head, banging him back into reality.   
He rushed over to the fridge and grabbed the list of important numbers Liz had made. _"Maria's Cell Phone: 703-9871. Michael and Maria's: 787-0967. Alex's Pager: 505-645-2234."_ Max's mind was racing as he grabbed the phone and called the first number on the list.   
* * * *   
Maria and Michael each held one of Adam-Michael's hands as they walked through the dinosaur exhibit at the Children's Museum. Alex was wearing a light blue baby carrier which was holding a sleeping Michaela in it's sling.   
A faint chirping noise was coming from somewhere.   
"What the hell is that?" Michael asked as Maria rummaged around in her purse for her cell phone.   
"It's my phone. You have a problem with the ring?" Maria asked.   
"That ring is so stupid, Maria. Why can't your phone just ring like normal phones?" Michael asked. She playfully punched him in the arm as she pushed the "Send" button on the phone.   
"Hello?" She said cheerfully. There was a pause.   
"M-maria..."   
"Max? Max, what's wrong?" Maria asked, frantic.   
"She t-t-took her. She t-took Liz."   
"WHAT? Wait, Max, WHO took Liz? Was it Tess? Where did she take her?"   
"T-Tess took her to M-Morgan's...Maria, they're going to k-kill her...and the baby...help Maria...oh God, no..." Max said, dissolving into sobs.   
Michael grabbed the phone from Maria's ear. "Max, Max, it's me. Now look we know you're upset but you've got to calm down, ok? Tell us where Tess took her."   
"Morgan's! Do you remember how to get there?"   
Michael searched in his mind. He had never been good at memorization. "No." He admitted, defeated.   
Max screamed, shouting out directions through sobs.   
"Max, Max, I can't understand you..." Michael said. "Max..." Then the phone went dead. Michael looked at Maria, stunned. "Dammit, Maria, I told you to charge your frickin' phone before we left, now look what happened..."   
"Michael, stop yelling at me!" Maria screamed. Adam-Michael tugged at her pant leg.   
"Mommy has Lizzie, doesn't she?" Adam-Michael asked her. Maria nodded slightly, throwing her arms around him.   
"We're going to get her back, kiddo." Maria said, kissing his head. She looked up at Alex, Isabel, and Michael. "I can get us to Morgan's."   
"Thank God." Alex said, whispering a silent prayer. "What are we waiting for? Liz needs us. That baby needs us."   
Isabel grabbed Alex's hand frantically as Michael scooped up Adam in his arms and the group ran quickly for the exit.   
  
  



	4. Default Chapter Title

The Language of Longing.. The End   
by Meredith (roswelldreamer@aol.com)   
To the DG's... love ya mean it.   
We still believe.

  


  


"To love someone deeply gives you strength.   
Being loved by someone deeply gives you courage."   
-Lao Tzu   
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

"Okay, we have to have a plan." Alex said, sighing. "We can't just barge in there..."   
"What?" Maria asked, her hands gripped on the steering wheel of the Volkswagon Jetta she shared with Michael, not taking her eyes off the front door to Morgan's condo. She was in an obvious daze.   
"Maria...a plan. We need a plan." Alex said. He was sitting in the passenger's seat. He looked over at Maria and noticed her obvious distress. He put his arm around her, kissing her head.   
"Y-yeah I know. A plan. But what, I mean are we just going to sit out here? I mean until we just LET Tess kill her? I mean I have a plan, how about this, how about we GO IN THERE and get Liz and the baby out of there?" Maria said, extremely close to losing control of her blinding rage.   
"Maria, we know you're upset. We're all upset...but we have to be rational about this. If we just run in there, Tess and God-knows-who else will just go ahead and kill Liz without a second thought." Isabel said, sitting in the backseat, breastfeeding Michaela.   
Maria's eyes filled with angry tears. "No. I'm not going to let that happen...I can't...it will kill me. It will kill Max. I can't see him hurt like that, he's too important to us- too important to Michael." As she uttered Max and Michael's names, she looked outside of the car window. Michael and Max were crouched on the ground, hiding behind Max's Jeep Cherokee parked across the street. Adam-Michael clutched his father's arm protectively.   
Max's entire body was shaking. This was making it very hard for him to speak. Instead, his words were coming out in jolted, fragmented parts of sentences.   
"Max- we really need to go in there. It's not going to do Liz any good to sit out here." Michael said firmly.   
"What...we, what are you..." Max uttered.   
"I'm going to talk to Tess...try to talk her out of it. You know, a brother-sister pep talk." Michael rolled his eyes to mention the thought of he and Tess actually being related somehow. "Then you'll come in, bring Adam-Michael..." Michael turned his gaze to the young boy sitting snuggly between them. He looked deep into the young boy's eyes, and it still shocked him with every glance- he was so much like Max. "Adam, buddy, you remember what we talked about?"   
Adam looked up at his uncle and nodded. "Daddy's going to pick me up and take me that house over there." He pointed to the front door of Morgan's condo. "Mommy has Lizzie in there. She's hurting Lizzie. You're going to talk to Mommy then Daddy's going to pretend to hurt me with that." Adam-Michael pointed to the knife Michael was holding in his left hand.   
Max looked over at the knife with disgust. He would never even think about harming Adam-Michael to get to Liz, but threatening his son's life did seem like a viable option in getting Tess to release her. "I...I can't hold my son...hostage...like th-that, Michael."   
"Well, I can't do it, Max. She'll only believe that we'd really do it if it's you. I'm sorry, but it has to be you. It's the only way." Michael said. Max looked down at his son and kissed the top of his head.   
"You know I'd never hurt you, right Adam-Michael?" Max asked the tiny boy.   
"Yes, I know that Daddy. You're doing this to help Lizzie and Jordana. Because you love them, they're your family. I'm your family, right Daddy?" Adam said.   
For the first time since he walked through the apartment door to find Liz missing, Max actually smiled.   
"I love you, son. Very much." Max said, holding his son tightly to him.   
"I love you too, Daddy. So let's stop Mommy ok?" Adam said, extending his hand to his dad's.   
As their hands touched, Max got a flash. 

**_***Liz, still bound to the steel chair in Morgan's living room, was looking down at her belly and cooing at it._**   
**_ "Max...he's outside." She said softly. "He's here, he's come to get us, your Daddy's here, baby girl. Don't cry anymore."_**   
**_ Just then, Tess walked over and smacked her across the face._**   
**_ "I TOLD YOU NOT TO SPEAK!" She screamed at Liz. Liz's bottom lip quivered. Her soft brown hair cascaded down her face. She closed her eyes as the sting from the slap washed over her._**   
**_ Nasedo, who had shape-shifted back into Morgan's form, ran over to them then._**   
**_ "I just spotted Max's car, along with a Volkswagon Jetta, parked out front." Morgan/Nasedo said to her._**   
**_ Tess smiled devilishly. "Perfect! The gang's all here, back together again. This will be fun, kind of like a West Roswell reunion, huh Liz? Now they can all be here to see you die."_**   
**_ Liz was outwardly upset, but she was ecstatic inside that they were so close to saving her._**   
**_ "Max...Max...I love you..." She thought as she closed her eyes.***_**

Just then, the flash ended, and Max felt a wave of empowerment rush through his body. He felt Liz's love, he felt his purpose. Where the fear of what might happen used to live inside him, rage took its place.   
"It's time." He said firmly to Michael and his son. Michael nodded, handing Max the knife. Max slipped it into the inside of his coat pocket. Michael stealthly crept back into the Jetta, climbing inside the backseat next to Isabel.   
"Ok. Here's the plan." Michael said, out of breath.   
Alex raised his hands up in relief. "Finally, someone who has some ideas...spill, Michael."   
"I'm going in there first. I'm going to try to initially talk to Tess, try to get her to stop it..."   
"Brother-sister pep talk? I know those well." Isabel interjected. Michael nodded, embarrassed to be considered the brother of such a great evil.   
"Then, Max is going to bring Adam inside."   
"Then what?" Alex asked.   
Michael paused before continuing. "He's going to pull a knife on him."   
"WHAT?" Alex, Isabel, and Maria screamed in unison. Michaela woke up then and started screaming.   
"No way, Michael, no way, that's crazy." Maria said, shaking her head furiously.   
"Yeah, Michael, Tess will go psycho-mom on us! Then Liz is a goner for sure!" Alex pleaded, rubbing his crying daughter's back as Isabel cradled her.   
"It's the only way. We get Tess to back off by threatening to take the most precious thing to her..." Michael said.   
"Her son..." Isabel said, looking off in terror. She rocked Michaela back and forth on her shoulder, cooing in her ear, trying to get her to calm down. It was almost like she could sense that something was wrong with her family.   
"I can't believe Max would go for this plan, Michael...it's horrible, it's an awful plan, it's going to backfire, Adam's going to end up scarred for life, Liz is going to end up...dead!" Maria screamed, banging her head against the steering wheel.   
"MARIA-WOULD YOU GET A GRIP ALREADY?" Michael screamed at her, which only caused the baby to cry louder to try to compete with him. "Freaking out is not going to help the situation at all. Adam will be fine. We've already talked about what's going to happen. He knows that Max isn't going to really hurt him, he's only going to pretend. Adam wants Liz and his sister out of there as much as we do..."   
"But you have to agree with Maria...I mean, this is going to cause some lasting damage...pitting his mother against his father- using him as a pawn?" Alex said.   
"A little bit of Mommy/Daddy conflict- that's better than watching your whole family die now isn't it?" Michael said to Alex pointedly.   
The group of four shuddered at the thought of losing Max and Liz.   
"That's not going to happen." Isabel said. "We can't let it."   
"Well, I'll go in there with you, Michael." Alex said.   
"I'm going too." Isabel chimed in.   
"No, you're not going in there... it's too dangerous. Michaela can't lose...both her parents." Alex said firmly.   
"I'm not letting you go in there alone." Isabel said. She locked gazes with her husband for a moment. "Besides, what if you guys need me or something? I mean, my powers..."   
"Well if Isabel and Alex are going, I'm going in, too. I'm not going to sit out here and let that bitch take my best friend away from me. No way." Maria said, shaking her head.   
"Maria...no." Michael said firmly.   
"What, Michael? Save your breath. You know you can't stop me." Maria replied.   
Michael reached over and grabbed Maria's hand. He leaned into her, giving her a soft, sweet kiss. "I love you, you know that?"   
"Ditto, spaceboy." She said, smiling up at him. "Just be careful, okay?"   
"I'm not going to let anything happen to you." Michael said, rubbing his hand through her soft blonde hair.   
"That goes double for me." Alex said, playing with Isabel's gorgeous golden locks and kissing the top of his daughter's head. 

* * * * * 

"Tess! Open up, it's Michael!" Michael screamed at the door, banging it forcefully. A long minute went by with no response from inside Morgan's condo, so Michael pounded again. "TESSA, OPEN UP! WE KNOW YOU HAVE LIZ IN THERE! WE'RE NOT LEAVING WITHOUT HER!"   
Just then, the door swung open, and Tess's piercing blue eyes stared back at Michael.   
"Hello, brother. So nice to see you." She said, smiling. "What brings you by so unexpectedly?"   
"You know why, Tess. Where's Liz?" Michael asked, pushing his way into the condo.   
"I assume she's with Max, how should I know where he keeps his whores?" Tess asked sweetly, trying to block his entrance into the living room, which was proceeded by a door. She held her small body up against the door. Michael smirked.   
"I know Liz is back there. Now move, before I have to move you myself." Michael said firmly.   
"Don't you want to talk first? Have a cup of tea? I miss you, dear brother, we need to catch up." Tess said, trying to push him towards the kitchen.   
"I know what you're trying to do, it's not going to work."   
"What?" She asked, fluttering her long eyelashes up at Michael and smiling.   
"You're going to get me in the kitchen, then you're going to put one of your voodoo mind hexes on me and I'm going to forget you're in there torturing my best friend's girlfriend and baby. No way, 'sissy'. I'm not falling for that."   
"Well then why are you here? You think you can just waltz in and save Liz? Surely you're smarter than that, Michael." She said, chuckling.   
"Actually, I was going to come in here and try to convince you to stop it." Michael said, smirking.   
"Well sit down. I'd like to hear what you have to say." Tess said, leading him to two small chairs set up in the foyer, right in front of the door.   
"Well, I do have one strong case..." Michael said. "MAXWELL!" He cried loud enough for Max to hear him outside the door. Max pushed the door open, holding Adam-Michael in his arms, a knife to his throat.   
"ADAM!" Tess cried, jumping up from her chair. She ran towards them. "NOT so fast, dear Tessa. Give me Liz, and Adam will live." Max said, his hand steady, gripping the knife. Michael came between Max and Tess.   
Tess's eyes were filling with tears. "You monster...you'd kill your own child...for that...whore?"   
Michael pushed her away. "No, Tess. You're the monster. Now let Liz go. She's completely innocent. Her baby is completely innocent. You're going to kill two innocent beings- you're the monster."   
"I'm not...I'm not a monster...LET GO OF MY SON!" She screamed, lunging towards Max. Max backed away. Michael restrained her, pushing her up against the living room door.   
"Give us Liz." Michael said firmly. "And we won't hurt your son."   
Tess's eyes blackened with rage. She opened the door to the living room, where Liz was tied up.   
Michael quickly followed her in there, but was too late. Tess had run towards Liz and slashed her arm before Michael could get to her.   
"OH MY GOD!" Liz screamed. The sight of Liz in pain was too much for Max to bear. He let go of Adam-Michael, running towards his love. Adam quickly followed his father. Michael had wrestled Tess to the ground, pushing the knife out of her hand. It slid across the hardwood floor.   
Max placed his hand over Liz's wound on her arm, healing it instantly. He showered her with tiny kisses all over her face and neck. "You're safe now." He said breathlessly. "We're not going to let her hurt you."   
Liz's eyes brimmed over with tears. "I love you, Max. I love you so much." They rested their foreheads together in relief.   
"She may not have hurt you, Liz...but I can!" A voice came from the other side of the room.   
It was Nasedo. He bent over, picking up the blood-stained knife that had slid across the floor during the scuffle between Tess and Michael.   
Max, Liz, and Adam looked up at Nasedo in terror. "Oh, God, Max..." Liz said. Max huddled Adam behind Liz's chair and quickly stood up in front of Liz.   
"You're not getting near her, Nasedo. Not this time." Max said firmly.   
"Is that so, Max?" Nasedo asked.   
"Yeah, it is!" A voice from outside the living room screamed. It was Maria. Nasedo turned around and smirked. Maria was holding a large vase she'd picked up from inside the foyer as she crept into the condo. Without another thought, she smashed it over the top of his head. This sent Nasedo to the ground, unconscious.   
"MARIA!" Michael screamed. He let go of Tess and ran over to her. He held Maria tightly in his arms and she quickly grabbed the knife Nasedo dropped in his fall.   
"I told you I wasn't going to sit in the car." Maria said, smiling up at Michael. He kissed her.   
"Aww, what a sweet reunion. Too bad you're going to have to watch her die now." Tess said, raising her hands toward Maria as a blinding white light pulsed from her body.   
"NO!" Michael screamed, putting his body in front of Maria's and acting as a shield. He harnessed his own energy and anger and thrust it back at Tess in an even more powerful and deadly light.   
With that, Tess was knocked to the ground.   
Max, who was still shielding his son and fiancee, looked up in shock. Michael stood in front of Tess's lifeless body, frozen. Maria clutched onto him in complete fear.   
"Michael..." She whispered to him. "You...killed her."   
"Oh my God...I killed her...I killed my sister..." Michael said, his eyes filling with tears. The realization of what he'd done began to sink in.   
Max ran over to Michael, hugging him. "Michael, don't beat yourself up again, okay? She was going to kill Liz, Maria...You saved us. You didn't mean to kill her."   
"I actually did it..." Michael uttered, in shock. He sank into Maria's arms, sobs rocking his body. She couldn't support the weight of his body so they fell to the ground. She rubbed his hair and kissed his head and cried with him.   
"Michael..." Liz uttered out in choked sobs. "Thank you... I can't thank you enough...I'm so sorry you had to..." Adam-Michael hugged Liz tight to his chest. "Oh, God..." Liz said, realizing the little boy in her lap just saw his mother being killed.   
Max sunk down, clutching Adam into his arms. Adam's bottom lip quivered.   
"Mommy's gone." Adam said to Max.   
Max could barely speak...he felt like the most awful person in the world for doing this to his son. "Yes, Adam. She's gone. We never meant for it to happen like this."   
Adam fell into Max's arms, silently crying. "I loved my Mommy."   
"She loved you too, Adam-Michael." Liz said, soothing his soft black hair.   
Adam looked up into Max and Liz's eyes. They knew explaining this all to him wasn't going to be easy. He wiped his tears with the back of his hand.   
Just then, Nasedo started to move around, rubbing his head in pain. Michael grabbed Maria, pulling them closer to Max, Liz, and Adam. Nasedo walked over to Tess's body, pushing her eyelids closed.   
"So you killed her, Michael." Nasedo said. "All for a human? How could you?"   
"I would have done the same thing for Liz." Max said to him firmly.   
"You two don't know anything." Nasedo said. "You've just lost something precious...don't you see that?"   
"No!" Max cried. "Our life is here! We've made our own destiny! And it's with Maria, with Alex...with Liz." He said, grabbing her hand and kissing it.   
Nasedo shook his head. "Well, I don't care if you don't think you're important...you are...and the day will come when our people will need you again...I can't risk losing the three of you. I've already lost one..."   
"You don't want to lose us?" Michael asked, his eyes stained with tears. "Then stay away from us- all of us- that includes the three of us, Maria, Alex, Liz, Adam-Michael, Michaela, Jordana, everyone..."   
Nasedo looked at them, then nodded. "I understand. But I will be watching you."   
"Fine, you can watch, be our guardian...whatever you have to do...just don't interfere..." Max said, putting his arm around Liz and kissing her head.   
Nasedo nodded, picking up Tess's body and taking it with him as he walked out of the door. The door shut behind him and Liz screamed out in relief.   
"THANK GOD!" She screamed, kissing Max and grabbing Maria and Michael into a huge embrace. "I love you all so much. You saved us. God, I've never been so scared in my whole life..."   
Michael started to speak, but was interrupted by Alex, Isabel, and Michaela, who had just walked in the door.   
"Was that Tess's body Nasedo was carrying?" Alex asked them. Michael looked up at him, his eyes red with tears. Max calmly explained.   
"Michael wrestled Tess to the ground, and she dropped her knife. Nasedo came in and picked it up... then Maria came in and Nasedo was about to go after Liz...so Maria smashed a vase on top of his head. He fell to the ground, and Tess used all her energy and power to try to kill Maria. Michael put his body in front of Maria's to block the field, and returned it back to her doubly strong. Tess died." Max finished, winded. He hugged Adam-Michael, kissing his head.   
"Oh my God!" Isabel gasped. "So they're really gone? Adam, honey, I'm so sorry." She leaned down and hugged her nephew.   
Adam broke away from them, climbing into Liz's lap. "Lizzie?" He whispered.   
Liz leaned in to him, smiling. She put her hand on the side of his tiny face. "What is it sweetie?"   
"I want you to be...my Mommy." He said quietly. Liz smiled. Everyone in the room was crying now.   
"I would love to be your Mommy, Adam-Michael. You precious thing. I love you so much." Liz said, hugging him tightly to her. "Now we can really be a family."   
Max held her hand, kissing it.   
"Well, there is one more thing we have to do..." He said, smiling.   


"The touch of your hand is like heaven   
A heaven that I've never known   
The blush on your cheek whenever I speak   
Tells me that you are my own   
You fill my eager heart with such desire   
Every kiss you give sets my soul on fire   
I give myself in sweet surrender   
My one and only love."- Sting   
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Come Live with me and be my love and we will all the pleasures prove."-Marlowe

You are cordially invited to witness the blessed union of   
Elizabeth Marie Parker   
and   
Maxwell Phillip Evans   
Saturday, the Twenty-second of June, Two Thousand Five   
One o' clock in the afternoon   
At the home of Mr. and Mrs. Phillip John Evans   
6540 Murray Lane   
Roswell, New Mexico

  


"My baby girl...you're all grown up. And now you're getting married and having your own baby girl. I'm just so..." Nancy Parker said, walking over to her daughter and cupping her face in her hands.   
"Mom," Liz said, rolling her eyes and smiling. She rubbed her hands over the mid-section of her dress, which showed off her very-pregnant belly beautifully.   
"Elizabeth, I love you. Your Mom and I love you so much, we're so proud of the wonderful young woman you've become...you're going to be a wonderful wife and an even better mother..." Jeff Parker said, enveloping his daughter and wife into a group hug.   
"...And doctor..." Nancy chimed in, beaming with pride.   
"Guys, stop it. You're going to make me cry..." Liz said, smiling, the tears of joy shining brightly in her big brown eyes.   
Maria knocked on the door, opening it a crack before entering. "Can I come in?"   
"Of course...we're all done in here..." Nancy said, taking Jeff's hand and leading him out of the door. She blew her daughter a kiss on the way out. "You look beautiful, honey."   
"We'll see you out there." Jeff said.   
"Bye, Mom. Bye, Dad. I love you." Liz replied, blowing them a kiss in return. Maria walked over to Liz and smiled.   
"Liz...you look so beautiful...you're glowing." She gave her best friend a huge hug.   
"Stop it...I'm big as a house." Liz said, turning around to look at herself in the mirror.   
"No, you're not...you look incredible." Maria replied.   
"I'm so glad your mom agreed to make this dress for me, Maria...the maternity section in the bridal shop was a bit lacking, to say the least..." Liz said, laughing.   
"You know, the whole pesky 'morals' issue..." Maria said, smiling.   
Liz rolled her eyes. "Those pesky morals, they'll get ya everytime!" She sighed, looking around the room she was in. "It's hard to believe, this was Max's room...he just seems so different now...." Max and Liz had decided to have a small wedding in the Evans' backyard back in Roswell, so all their family and close friends could come.   
Maria smiled, walking over to a dresser and picking up a photo of Max, Isabel, and Michael in a silver frame. "Yeah...well we've been gone from Roswell for like four YEARS, Lizzie...things have changed..."   
"Yeah..." Liz said, sighing. She sat down on Max's bed, snuggling up with one of his pillows. She closed her eyes.   
"Lizzie...no time for a nap, chica, you're getting married in like 10 minutes!" Maria said.   
"It's not that, Maria...I just feel really...funny." Liz said, holding her head in her hands.   
"Funny?" Maria said with alarm. She rushed over to Liz's side. "What kind of funny?"   
Liz shook her head. "No, it's nothing." She said, smiling. "I'm just being paranoid."   
"No, tell me, what is it, Liz? No secrets, remember?" Maria said. "Let me feel your head." She put her hand to Liz's forehead. "You're burning up!"   
"It's just nerves...it's nothing..." Liz said, reaching out for Maria's hand to help her stand back up.   
Then she felt it... a sudden, sharp, blinding pain ripping through her, then a warm surge of water sliding down her legs.   
"Oh GOD!" Liz cried, falling backwards onto the bed.   
"What, Lizzie, what? What is it? Is it the baby?" Maria asked, holding her hand.   
Liz shook her head. "This can't be happening..."   
"What?" Maria asked, suddenly looking down at the growing pool of wetness on the floor between Liz's legs. "Oh my God!" She whispered. "I-I..."   
"Do something, Maria!" Liz said, between forced breaths. She was only four months pregnant, she had figured the lamaze classes would come much later on.   
"I, I-- I can't handle this pressure!" Maria screamed. "Where's my cedar oil?" She began frantically searching the room for her purse.   
"Go get Max! I'm having this baby!" Liz screamed, grabbing Maria's arm.   
"You can't possibly be having this baby! You're only four months pregnant, Lizzie! Don't be silly! We'll just sit here until the pain passes, then we'll go downstairs and you'll tie the knot with Mr. Wonderful...okay?" Maria said, hyperventilating.   
"NO, MARIA! Aren't you forgetting...this baby..." Liz moaned in pain. "This baby is PART CZECHOSLOVAKIAN? Who knows how long it takes CZECHOSLOVAKIAN babies to come into this world! GO GET MAX!" She squealed.   
"Oh, God, oh, okay, Lizzie, I'll be right..." Maria didn't get to finish her sentence, she was halfway down the stairs to find Max. 

* * * * *   
"Max, what the hell is the matter with you... There's no time for one of your 'headaches' again..." Michael said, pacing in the Evans' kitchen. People were milling about outside in the backyard, waiting anxiously for the ceremony to start. Meanwhile, the groom was hunched over at the kitchen table, complaining of a piercing headache.   
"Michael, this is different...something's wrong..." Max replied, shaking his head.   
"It's just nerves, Maxwell...okay? So get up, you're marrying your dreamgirl in like 10 minutes..." Michael said, patting his best friend on the back.   
A squealing noise carried throughout the house, finally ending up in the kitchen. Maria appeared to Max and Michael, out of breath.   
"Maria! What is it? Is there something wrong with Liz?" Max cried, jumping up from the table.   
"Get Alex and Isabel. WE'RE HAVING A BABY!" Maria screamed.   
Max's eyes lit up with a mix of complete elation and utter terror.   
"She can't be having the baby...she's only four months..." Michael cried to Maria.   
"Czechlosovakian babies? Jordana's a Czechoslovakian baby, you people failed to realize this one..." Maria said. "I promise you, this isn't a joke...Liz is in a lot of pain...her water just broke..."   
That was all Max needed to hear. He needed to be with her. He pushed Maria out of the way, leaving she and Michael in the kitchen. He bolted up the stairs and ran into his room.   
"Liz! Liz, honey, I'm here, I'm here..." He ran into the room, flinging his arms around her.   
"Oh, Max! I'm so scared! So scared..." Liz screamed in pain. Her face was covered in sweat and she'd already ripped apart one of his pillows.   
"Liz, I'm not going to leave you baby, never...I'm here...let's get you out of this dress and prop you up onto some pillows... maybe that will relieve some of the pressure..." Max said, quickly moving into "Protective Husband" mode.   
"Oh, Max...Max..." She groaned in pain, falling into his arms. "I can't do this...I'm not ready...it's too soon..."   
"Shh..." He said, putting a finger to his lips. "Yes you can. I'm here...we can do anything." He carefully undid the zipper in the back of her dress and slid it down around her hips, laying it on the back of his desk chair. He started pulling out the tiny clips holding her hair back tightly into soft brown tendrils. "There...that will relieve some of the stress to your head..." He walked over to his dresser drawer, relieved to find some old house clothes lying inside. He pulled out an old West Roswell High School t-shirt for her to wear. He walked back over to the bed, propping the pillows up against the headboard so she could sit up slightly while still feeling somewhat comfortable. He pulled the shirt over her head and rubbed her belly, chuckling. "Hey, little one...you sure have terrible timing..."   
Liz laughed at him, putting her hand on his cheek. He kissed her open palm. "Max..." She whispered. "I'm really afraid... what if I can't do this?" Just then, another painful contraction washed over her. Without thinking, Max placed his hands on her lower abdomen, suddenly feeling a shocking pain ripping through him. He was connecting with her, taking some of the pain away from her and feeling it himself.   
"Oh, man..." He cried, his body crashing onto hers in pain. "God, Liz..."   
"Max...no...please...you don't have to do that!" Liz said, frantically shaking her head in disapproval.   
"Liz, I'm not going to sit here and watch you in pain while knowing that I can do something to help relieve it." Max said, sweat pouring off his brow.   
They shared one of their trademark looks...the one that made Maria comment one time when they were in high school, **_"you and Max- you've got that whole...look into my eyes-soulmate thing."_**   
"In that case..." Liz replied, smiling. She began undoing his bowtie and tuxedo shirt. "...let's get you out of those clothes, Daddy...we're having a baby." She then knew that she had no fear, no regrets, no pain was too great- this perfect man was here, was hers, and nothing else mattered... 

* * * * *   
"How's my precious little grandbaby doing?" Diane Evans said, smiling. She was bouncing Michaela on her knee while Adam-Michael sat in Isabel's lap next to her, coloring in a coloring book she had bought for him. Mr. and Mrs. Evans had joyfully accepted Adam-Michael into their lives with open arms, and he seemed to accept them just as easily as he had Max, Liz, Maria, Michael, Isabel, and Alex.   
"Grammy, see what I made for you?" Adam said, holding up a finished page in the book for Diane to see.   
"Oh, Adam, it's beautiful! That's for me?" She replied, smiling. It was a picture of a woman pushing a baby in a baby carriage.   
"Yes, it's for you. It's Mommy pushing Jordana in the baby stroller." Adam said, smiling.   
"Well Adam, she's just beautiful. You did a wonderful job on the brown hair." Diane replied, putting her gentle hand on her grandson's jet black hair. She couldn't get over how much he looked like Max at his age.   
Adam nodded proudly. "Long brown hair, just like my Mommy's." Adam hadn't called Liz "Lizzie" since the day Tess had died. He kept a picture of he and his mom next to his bed in a gold frame, but he rarely talked about her. As far as he was concerned, his mother was gone, and Liz was his Mommy now. Diane was saddened to hear that Tess had died in a car accident (that's what they had told everyone back home) but relieved that Adam-Michael had come into their lives before that happened, and that Liz Parker, who Diane had always loved and respected for making her son so happy, had adopted Adam-Michael into her heart just like he was her own son.   
Isabel smiled, holding her baby's tiny hand as Diane bounced her on her knee. She looked over to her mom with concern. "Mom, it's getting kind of late...shouldn't Max and Michael be out here by now?"   
Diane looked at her watch. "Yeah...I hope everything's alright..." She said, turning her head back towards the house. "Maybe they need our help with something..."   
Isabel then felt a surge of pain rock through her body. "Oh, God..." She moaned. Diane looked over at her daughter with alarm.   
"Honey! What's the matter?" Diane asked, putting her arm around Isabel. "You need some medicine? I can go inside the house and grab you some..."   
"No, Mom...it's not that...I just have this strange feeling...like something's wrong..." Isabel said, holding her head in her hands in pain. Max was in pain. She could feel it, he was connecting with her. What was going on? Adam-Michael looked up at her with delight.   
"Jordana's coming!" He cried, climbing quickly out of Isabel's lap and running towards the house.   
"What?" Diane cried. "That can't be! What is he talking about, Izzy?"   
"Oh, it's nothing...you know how weird 4-year-olds can be...I'll go check on them...can you watch Michaela for me?" Isabel said, looking at her Mom with concern.   
"Of course dear. I hope everything's alright. Please come out and get me if something is wrong, ok?" Diane asked.   
"Of course, Mom." Isabel said, kissing Diane on the cheek and looking through the crowd, trying to find Alex. She found him over by the refreshment table set up in the back of the yard. "Alex!" She cried out to him.   
"What? What's up? Are they finally ready to start?" Alex asked her.   
"No, I think something's wrong with Liz..." Isabel said, frantically.   
"WHAT?" Alex cried. He grabbed Isabel's hand as they walked quickly back towards the house.   
They ran right into Maria and Michael.   
"Michael- thank God, what's going on with Liz and Max? I felt this really sharp pain, then Adam went running towards the house..." Isabel said.   
"That's cause Liz is in labor." Michael said casually.   
"WHAT?" Isabel and Alex cried at the same time.   
Maria and Michael walked out towards the crowd as Isabel and Alex ran back into the house to be with Liz and Max.   
"Excuse me, everyone, can I have your attention please?" Maria asked, standing on the makeshift altar in front of the rows of chairs. The minister looked at her with confusion. The buzzing noise of voices slowly creeped down to silence as she continued. "Um, there isn't going to be a wedding today..." A chorus of _"WHATS?"_ and _"Oh Nos!" _floated through the crowd until Maria explained. "There isn't going to be a wedding, because there's going to be a birth instead...Liz has gone into labor."   
Gasps floated through the crowd. Nancy and Jeff stood up from the front row and ran towards Maria.   
"Where is she?" Jeff asked.   
"Have you taken her to the hospital?" Nancy asked, frantically.   
"No, Liz's contractions are too close together. There isn't any time..." Maria said. *And we don't know if the baby's going to come out green and slimy...* She added in her mind.   
"That's ridiculous! We'll call an ambulance right now! She'll be at the hospital in five minutes!" Jeff cried.   
"NO!" Michael screamed at them. Jeff looked at him with anger and hatred. He wasn't going to have his niece prodded by doctors at the hospital.   
"What did you say to me?"Jeff asked.   
"I said No. Max and Liz want to have the baby at home. They're having it here. There will be no ambulances called, we have everything under control." Michael replied calmly.   
"UNDER CONTROL?" Nancy cried. "You all are just a bunch of kids, you don't know anything about having babies..."   
"Michael and I don't. But Max's sister, Isabel Whitman does. And so does her husband, Alex. They just had a baby girl at home a few months ago. With no help. They were by themselves." Maria said calmly.   
"And they're up there with Lizzie now?" Jeff asked.   
"Yes." Michael said.   
"We know you're worried, but everything's going to be fine." Maria said, putting her hand on Nancy's shoulder. Nancy hugged Maria tightly in fear.   
"Well Jeff and I are staying here. We won't get in your way, just promise us that you'll let us know if something's wrong...and then we can take her to the hospital?" Nancy said, looking up into Maria's eyes.   
"Of course, Mr. and Mrs. Parker." Michael said. Maria linked her arm with Nancy's as she and Michael led them into the house. Michael walked over to Diane and Phillip Evans and led them inside the house, taking baby Michaela, who was named after him, into his arms.   
"I'll gather up some blankets...some washcloths...you're going to need some ice for Liz, and a small tub or something to wash the baby in after she's born..." Diane began, rummaging through the downstairs of her house in frantic search of the necessary items. She began piling them into Michael's arms.   
"Yeah...we're going to need some scissors, too...to cut the...the..thing..." Michael said, trying to remember the name.   
"The umblical cord? Yeah. You'll need scissors. And something to suction the baby's nose and mouth...I'll see what I can find around here." Diane said as she and Michael walked back into the kitchen to find the rest of the items. Phillip was playing with his granddaughter, flying her around like a superhero.   
"And here comes 'SUPERBABY'!" Phillip said, making Michaela giggle with glee. Her face then began to quiver and she began screaming hysterically.   
"Oh, that's a hungry cry, Phillip..." Diane said, smiling.   
"Well, did Isabel leave anything for her...?" Phillip asked, looking through Michaela's diaper bag on the table.   
"She said there was a bottle of breast milk in the fridge. Just put it in the microwave and heat it up for like 20 seconds...you can give her that." Diane said. Phillip walked over to the fridge, grabbing the bottle and putting it in the microwave. He bounced Michaela in his arms, but she wouldn't stop crying.   
Michael looked over at him. "Can I take her?" He reached out his arms.   
"Sure, Michael. Give it a shot." Phillip said, smiling and handing the screaming baby to him. She was immediately calmed by Michael's soothing touch. For the first time, Mr. and Mrs. Evans actually saw their children's mysterious friend smile.   
"Wow..." Diane said. "You're a natural!"   
Michael nodded, in awe of this precious thing nestled in his arms.   
He knew then what he was ready for... what he had wanted all along. 

* * * * *   
"Push, Liz, you have to push!" Isabel cried, throwing instructions to Liz as Maria and Max pushed against her feet. Michael, Alex, and Adam were near Liz's head, holding her hands and feeding her ice chips. Adam held a cool washcloth and dabbed it on Liz's forehead every few moments, pushing her sweat-covered hair back from her face.   
"I can't..." Liz moaned. She'd been pushing for over an hour. Maybe Jordana decided she didn't want to come out today after all. "I can't do it anymore..." She closed her eyes and a vision rocked through her mind... 

**_***The same one she had of she, Max, and Jordana at the beach._**   
**_ Max and Jordana playing in the sand._**   
**_ Liz watching from a safe distance, fixing her family's lunch._**   
**_ Max and Jordana pleading to play for a little while longer._**   
**_ Tess grabbing Jordana out of Max's arms and running with her into the ocean._**   
**_ Jordana screaming and crying._**   
**_ "Mommy! Daddy! Help me!" Jordana squealed, as Tess disappeared with her, further into the dark, lifeless ocean.***_**

Liz was brought out of her mind by a screaming Max. "Liz...baby, Liz you have to push. Look. Look at your stomach. The symbol's fading. It's getting dark. You have to get her out of there, she's dying..."   
Liz looked into Max's eyes with terror and exhaustion. "I'm just so...tired, Max..."   
Max put his hands on her abdomen as she pushed. "Push, Liz, push!" He connected with her once again, feeling the absolute torture ripping through her body. He fell over her in a great amount of pain, but kept the connection open.   
"That was good, Liz! That was awesome!" Isabel cried. "The baby's head is crowning! One more good push and she's out of there, okay?"   
"Hang on, Lizzie, you're doing so great!" Maria said, scared for her best friend but so excited that her goddaughter was coming into the world.   
Max and Liz looked into each other's eyes, knowing in the next few minutes, their lives would be changed forever.   
"Okay, Liz, I'm going to count to ten, alright? I want you to bare down for me as hard as you can, and I think that will do it..." Isabel said, motioning for Alex to hand her one of the towels set up by the head of the bed.   
"Okay..." Liz said, exhausted, as Adam put the washcloth back down on her forehead.   
"Mommy, you can do it." Adam-Michael said. Liz smiled at him.   
"Thanks, kiddo." She said, breathlessly. She looked up at Max as Isabel, Alex, Maria, and Michael began to count.   
"One...two...three..."   
Max put his hands on Liz's belly and got another flash.   
**_*The first time he ever saw Liz. They were seven. He was getting off the school bus for the first time and Liz smiled at him as she played with some of her friends._**   
**_ Liz in biology class, the sun streaming in from the windows, her looking so beautiful as she took notes from the chalkboard._**   
**_ The day at the CrashDown when she was shot._**   
**_ Their first kiss._**   
**_ Melting into each other.*_**   
"Four...five...six..."   
**_*Spending the night in the desert, finding the orb that would eventually tell him his destiny with Tess._**   
**_ The mind-numbing pain they both felt when Liz let him go._**   
**_ All the times he saw her in the hallways of school, wanting to hold her, touch her, kiss her..._**   
**_ Graduation. The night they made love at the rock formation.*_**   
"Seven...eight...nine..."   
**_*Their happy memories in college._**   
**_ Their lazy afternoons._**   
**_ The night he asked her to marry him._**   
**_ Moving in together, Tess and Adam-Michael coming back into their lives._**   
**_ The night she almost died._**   
**_ The night Tess took her from him._**   
**_ Max vowing never to let Tess get near them again._**   
**_ Liz vowing to take care of Adam-Michael after Tess died.*_**   
"Ten!" They all cried as Liz, with help from Max, pushed down for the last moment when the baby was free of her body.   
A breathless moment passed before Jordana began squealing.   
"Oh my God!" Isabel cried, smiling. Tears streamed from Isabel and Maria's face. "She's got ten fingers, ten toes, she's beautiful! She's perfect!" Isabel wrapped her up in a towel, suctioned the fluid out of her mouth and nose, and put her onto Liz's stomach.   
Liz and Max looked at each other blissfully. They kissed.   
"We did it!" Max cried. "We did it!"   
"Hi, baby..." Liz cooed, kissing her head. "I love you so much, Jordana... we're so glad you're finally here."   
"Hi Jordana." Adam-Michael said, kissing her forehead. "I'm your big brother."   
Max smiled, tears streaming down her face. "You are so beautiful..." Max said. "I love you, sweetheart..." He leaned down and kissed her tiny forehead as she began to stop crying.   
"Hey, big Daddy- you want to cut the cord?" Isabel asked Max, handing him the scissors.   
"Of course." Max said, smiling, cutting the cord as Jordana was finally free from Liz's body. Liz felt an immediate disconnection- not a sad one, but one that made her baby so much more real.   
As Isabel and a hysterical Maria took the baby to clean her up in the sink, Alex wrapped his arms around Liz and kissed her cheek.   
"Great job, Mama." Alex said.   
"Thanks, Alex. Thanks so much for being there." Liz said.   
Michael stood in the corner, smiling. Max walked over to him as Adam climbed into Liz's arms and closed his eyes.   
"That's one lucky baby." Michael said. "Thanks for letting me be here, you know..." He hated these emotional moments.   
"Michael...you're my brother, man...if you weren't here, it wouldn't have been right..." Max said.   
"I know, it's just..."   
"Just what?" Max asked.   
"Seeing your little girl... come into the world like that... it really got to me..."   
"What do you mean?" Max asked, intrigued.   
"I think...I think it's time...Maria and I got..."   
Max smiled, hugging him. "I think I know what you mean." Max walked back over to Liz and Adam and cuddled with them on his bed.   
"So Adam, what did you think about all that, huh, son?" Max asked his tiny son.   
"It was great, Daddy...scary, but good. I'm glad Mommy and Jordana are okay now." Adam said. Liz smiled through her closed eyes. She definitely deserved a catnap.   
Max leaned down and whispered in her ear. "I love you so much. Thank you for giving me a beautiful baby."   
Liz opened her eyes and kissed him. "Thank you."   
Just then, Nancy, Jeff, Diane, and Phillip burst in, with Michaela in tow. Alex grabbed his baby out of their arms and smiled.   
"Let's go meet your cousin, Mimi!" Alex said, smiling and walking into the bathroom to see how Maria and Isabel were coming with the baby preparations.   
"Lizzie! Baby!" Nancy cried, flinging herself into her daughter's tired arms.   
"Hi, Mom. Hi, Dad." Liz said, exhausted.   
"We heard a baby squealing...is she alright?" Jeff asked Max.   
"Jordana is fine...she's beautiful, perfect- ten fingers, ten toes- a head full of dark brown hair." Max said, beaming. Jeff hugged his soon-to-be son-in-law tightly.   
"Thank you, Max. Thank you for taking such good care of Lizzie." Jeff said, tears forming in his eyes. He walked over to his daughter and kissed her head "Are you okay, pumpkin?"   
"I'm fine, I'm just tired..." Liz said, yawning.   
Nancy smiled. "That's understandable."   
Diane and Phillip hugged their son, then walked over to greet Liz.   
"We're so proud of you kids...for doing this on your own..." Diane said, smiling.   
"Yeah, it seems so much more special with everyone here, doesn't it?" Phillip asked.   
Max and Liz looked at each other, sending each other a message telepathically. "It was the most special thing that has ever happened to us."   
"Grandpa!" Adam said, running into Phillip's arms as he scooped him up.   
"Hey, kiddo!" Phillip said, tickling his grandson. "How do you feel? You're a big brother now! Lots of responsibility!   
"I love Jordana, I only want to be her big brother, no one else's..." Adam-Michael said, smiling. "We're going to go to the beach, and play in the water, and make sandcastles, and color together, and ride bikes together, and fly kites..."   
Everyone in the room smiled at Adam's excitedness.   
The room got silent when Isabel, Maria, and Alex walked back into the room. Maria was holding the now-clean baby in a pink blanket. Her eyes streamed with tears at the excitement of holding her goddaughter. "Here she is, everyone..." The grandparents gasped at the child's beauty.   
"She looks just like Lizzie did when she was born..." Nancy commented as Jeff put his arm around his wife, tears falling from both their eyes.   
Maria placed the baby carefully in her best friend's arms as Liz was held in Max's arms. Michael's heart swelled with love as he saw how natural Maria seemed with the baby. She walked over to him and he put his arms around her, kissing her cheek.   
"Mom, Dad..." Max said, smiling.   
"Mom, Dad..." Liz said, smiling.   
Max continued. "May we present to you...Jordana Isabel Parker Evans."   
Isabel squealed with delight to hear her own name as the baby's middle name. "Max, Liz..." She said, her eyes filling with fresh tears. She leaned the side of her face against her own daughter's sweet-smelling hair.   
Liz looked up at Isabel. "You helped bring her into the world...and you are her aunt...it seemed natural..."   
"Isabel is a form of Elizabeth, too...so..." Max added.   
"It's perfect!" Nancy said, smiling.   
"I love you guys." Isabel said, kissing Liz's head, Max's head, and the baby's soft head.   
Diane and Phillip looked at each other in pride. Their children had grown into such wonderful adults. They were so proud.   
"Oh my gosh!" Maria cried. "You guys... you need to get married!"   
"Maria, we can get married another day..." Liz began, yawning. "I'm a little tired right now..."   
Max looked down at her smiling. He kissed her head. "No, you can be my wife right now."   
"What?" Liz asked, confused. Max looked to his father, who was a federal court judge.   
Phillip smiled. "You want _me_ to marry you guys?"   
"Yeah. Can you do it?" Max asked him.   
"Well...it will be legal, cause I'm a judge..."   
"And we have our marriage liscense already!" Liz added.   
Phillip nodded. "Okay, let's get married!"   
Max and Liz looked at each other, smiles spread across their face. Jordana opened her eyes and looked up at her Mom and Dad.   
"Jordana approves, let's do it!" Max said. Everyone in the room laughed.   
"Okay, Max...do you take Liz to be your lawfully wedded wife? To have and to hold, in joy and in sorrow, in sickness and in health, in plenty and in want, as long as you both shall live?"   
Max looked deep into Liz's eyes. "I'll love you forever. I do."   
Liz's eyes began filling with tears. Phillip continued.   
"Okay, Liz, do you take Max to be your lawfully wedded husband? To have and to hold, in joy and in sorrow, in sickness and in health, in plenty and in want, as long as you both shall live?"   
Liz looked into Max's eyes. "I'll love you in heaven. So I do."   
"Okay then, by the power vested in me by the State of New Mexico, I now pronounce you husband and wife." Phillip smiled. "Kiss your bride, son."   
Max and Liz kissed and claps and cheers surrounded them.   
"Jordana...you hear that?" Adam said, whispering into his baby sister's tiny ear. "Mommy and Daddy just got married!"   
Everyone laughed.   
Michael grabbed Maria's hand and led her out into the hallway.   
"Michael, what are you doing?" Maria asked him.   
"I'm tired of playing games, Maria..."   
"Games?" Maria was confused.   
"Life's too short...I love you and you love me, so let's just do it, okay?"   
Maria's heart stopped as she saw the man of her dreams kneeling down in front of her.   
"Maria Amelia DeLuca...will you marry me?" Michael asked.   
She squealed, flinging herself into his arms.   
"Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes!" She screamed. She showered his face witha million kisses and Michael spinned her around in the air. 

* * * * * 

**_Later that night...._**

Max and Liz had fallen asleep together in Max's old bed, with Jordana fast asleep in Michaela's portable crib. Adam-Michael was next to the bed and the crib, on a cot his Grandmother had found in the garage and fixed it up for him to sleep on.   
Max woke up, cradling an exhausted but content Liz in his arms. He pulled her close to him, removing a single strand of hair that was pasted to her forehead from the evening's revels. "I forgot...to tell you...I love you..." He began to slowly sing in her ear, more like whisper in her ear, with the slightest hint of a tune. He didn't want to wake their children.   
**_ *Their children.*_**   
That had such a nice ring to it.   
"...a night's too long, and cold here without you...I grieve in my condition...for I cannot find the words to say I need you so..." He sang to her, rubbing her arms and hands, bringing one of her hands up to his mouth to kiss it. She moved around in his arms, opening her eyes up to him.   
"I never knew my husband had such a beautiful voice..." Liz began, turning her body around so their chests were touching.   
"I never knew I could love my wife more than I already did...but I keep falling in love with you....everytime I look at you...you amaze me..." Max said.   
Liz's eyes filled with tears. "I think that's the most beautiful thing you've ever said to me."   
They kissed and held each other through the night as their son and daughter slept peacefully beside them. And their lives were filled with nothing but endless streams of these perfect moments... because they were soulmates...and their love was a perfect one which would last through all eternity.   
  


The End... for now ;) 

The sequel... "Solace" will be coming to this site soon ;) 


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